Multiple Sclerosis: Etiology, Diagnosis, and New Treatment Strategies

Description

The recent explosion of new information about the pathology, pathophysiology, clinical classification, imaging, and treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) has dramatically opened the way to a deeper understanding of the disease and a more effective therapeutic landscape for patients. In Multiple Sclerosis: Etiology, Diagnosis, and New Treatment Strategies, leading MS physicians synthesize current concepts about the evaluation, treatment, and future directions in MS. On the evaluation side, the authors review the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), magnetic resonance spectroscopy, functional MRI, and three-dimensional MRI, and consider the rapidly developing body of pathologic information they have yielded. On the treatment side, the focus is on recently approved medications (Novantrone), new indications for medications (CHAMPS Trial), medications in development (Oral Interferon Tau, Oral Copaxone, and Oral Cellcept), immunosuppressive therapy for both progressive disease and symptomatic therapy; the current medications for treating relapsing-remitting MS (Avonex, Betaseron, and Copaxone) are also discussed. For future directions, the authors present the current best thinking, as well as the latest discoveries in immunology relating to MS, including groundbreaking B-cell research, its applications to specific immunotherapies, and the use of immune markers for tracking the disease. Additional chapters cover the mechanism and application of myelin repair, bone marrow transplantation, combination therapy, and specific immunomodulatory treatments. Comprehensive and up-to-date, Multiple Sclerosis: Etiology, Diagnosis, and New Treatment Strategies reviews all the current immunological, neuropsychological, imaging, and pregnancy issues associated with MS and shows how each is contributing to the still ongoing development of more efficacious therapies.