No clear guidelines about when to start disease-modifying drugs in MS

People with MS are often advised to start disease-modifying drugs early after diagnosis.

Quite apart from the decision about whether drugs are needed at all in individual cases, the question of whether starting early is important has not been widely discussed.

Publishing in Multiple Sclerosis International, Canadian neurologists suggest that this is indeed a difficult question. The authors note that timing of such treatment should be highly individualised, and the person with MS very well informed before making any decision.

They note that their reading of the literature only partly supports early treatment after clinical onset of multiple sclerosis.

Of course, we would argue that it is important to be active early in modifying those risk factors known to affect disease progression, as discussed in the Recovery Program on this site.

Many people stabilise the illness this way and find they do not require medication. 

You can read the full study here.