b"Medicine & Research Doctors NotesThe MS News column includes analysis from Ben Thrower, M.D., MS Focus senior medical advisor. He draws from the top news stories of the quarter and explains what the news means to you, the person with MS. Christine Willis, MLIS, AHIP, is the Clinical Information Librarian at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Egleston Hospital. Review nds greater MS prevalencemanyotherquestions,mainlywhy?Asa apart from quick diagnosisspecies,ourhumangenomeshouldntbe ResearchersfromDenmarkreviewedchanging within our lifetimes in ways that published articles from the 1950s to 2020 towould lead to a higher prevalence. This would identify and discuss trends in MS incidencethen shift the focus to our environment. and disease severity. The authors share ndingsIs there something in our modern diet, from around the world that give evidence bothenvironment, or exposures that is leading to an for and against an increased rate of diagnosisincrease in MS? This remains to be determined. along with explanations about the changes inStudy: HSCT works better disease severity. There have been multiplefor those with RRMSmodifications to the McDonald criteria to become more sensitive along with the toolsThis study looked at the real-world application used to diagnosis MS, including MRI scanners.of nonmyeloablative autologous hematopoietic Disease progression and severity has changedstemcelltransplantationforMSbetween in some respects based on available drugsJuly 2003 and October 2019 at a single center and therapies. The authors conclude that ininGermany.Fourhundredandfourteen the past 20 years the incidence of diagnosispatients with relapsing-remitting MS and 93 has stabilized or possibly declined, but thepatientswithnewlydiagnosedsecondary severity of the disease is harder to evaluate.progressive MS underwent nonmyeloablative This article was published in Nature Reviews,HSCT. Most patients were female and Caucasian Neurology.with a mean age of 36.7 years. In patients Dr. ThrowerMS is the leading cause ofwithRRMS,autologousnonmyeloablative nontraumatic disability in young AmericanHSCT is an effective one-time therapy that adults. As we learn more about MS, we areresulted in a greater than 1.0 EDSS for more revising diagnostic criteria in hopes of makingthan ve years. HSCT appears of less benet an accurate diagnosis more quickly. Thisfor newly diagnosed SPMS. This study was study would suggest that MS may be becomingpublished in the Journal of Neurology. more prevalent independent from beingDr. Thrower MS results from an immune diagnosedmorequickly.Thiswouldraisesystem gone awry, attacking myelin and axons 53msfocusmagazine.org"