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Managing Disability in Progressive Multiple Sclerosis

  • Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders (P Villoslada, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Treatment Options in Neurology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Opinion statement

Patients with progressive forms of multiple sclerosis have various symptoms which affect their quality of life significantly including depression, cognitive decline, sleep changes, bladder dysfunction, sexual dysfunction, and spasticity. Despite recent promising results on the effects of ocrelizumab on neurological disability in patients with PPMS, currently none of the immunomodulatory therapies are approved for progressive forms of multiple sclerosis. Therefore, clinicians currently mostly focus on management of well-recognized comorbidities of this disease phenotype in order to improve patients’ quality of life. There are very few studies evaluating strategies of symptomatic management on progressive forms of multiple sclerosis and most of the data is derived from studies on relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis. Understanding of the risks, benefits, and limitations of these therapies can significantly affect patient care. In this article, we review common comorbidities associated with progressive forms of multiple sclerosis and outline important strategies for their symptomatic management.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology and Neurotherapeutics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA

    Divyanshu Dubey MD, Peter Sguigna MD & Olaf Stüve MD, PhD

  2. Neurology Section, VA North Texas Health Care System, Medical Service, Dallas, TX, USA

    Olaf Stüve MD, PhD

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  1. Divyanshu Dubey MD
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  2. Peter Sguigna MD
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  3. Olaf Stüve MD, PhD
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Correspondence to Olaf Stüve MD, PhD.

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Divyanshu Dubey and Peter Sguigna declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Olaf Stüve serves on the editorial boards of JAMA Neurology, Multiple Sclerosis Journal, and Therapeutic Advances in Neurological Disorders. Dr. Stüve has served on data monitoring committees for Pfizer and Sanofi-Aventis without monetary compensation, represented Novartis in front of a Scientific Advisory Group at the European Medicines Agency (EMA), and has advised Genentech and Sanofi-Aventis. Dr. Stüve currently receives grant support from Teva Pharmaceuticals and Opexa Therapeutics, has received travel support from Pfizer, and is funded by a Merit grant from the US Department of Veterans Affairs.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders

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Dubey, D., Sguigna, P. & Stüve, O. Managing Disability in Progressive Multiple Sclerosis. Curr Treat Options Neurol 18, 27 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11940-016-0412-7

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