MS Treatment Decisions Can Cause a ‘Gambler’s Dilemma’
By Admin | January 16, 2019
One of the toughest decisions facing someone with MS is whether to begin treatment with a disease-modifying therapy (DMT). Equally tough, I think, is deciding which DMT road to travel — because there are three roads that can be followed.
One path starts you on a simple, first-level medication. These are generally the treatments that have been around for years, such as Avonex, Betaseron, or Copaxone (the “ABC” meds), or one of the oral medications. The efficacy of these treatments is low to moderate, and if the med isn’t working, you’re moved up the ladder to one considered to be more effective.
Another path starts you right away with one of the newer, more effective treatments. These are the monoclonal antibodies Tysabri, Ocrevus, and Lemtrada.
The third road begins where the first road started, with the first-level meds. But if you fail the first med, you’re moved to another that’s also on the first level to see if it works better.
There’s also the option of doing nothing, which some call “watchful waiting.”
For more on this story, please read, MS Treatment Decisions Can Cause a ‘Gambler’s Dilemma’ by Multiple Sclerosis Today.
