54 msfocusmagazine.org New App Helps Distinguish New App Helps Distinguish Relapse from Pseudo-Relapse Relapse from Pseudo-Relapse MSFocus:One of the most common questions we hear at MS Focus is “How do I know if I’m having an MS relapse?” Is this a question that yournewest app “MS RelapseTool” is designed to address? Dr. Okuda: The MS Relapse Tool is a resource that was developed that enables patients to assess whether their experience is consistent with what many MS experts would define as a clinical relapse. After inputting information, the application itselfwill giveyou a percentage of probability, or likelihood, that what you’re experiencing may be associated with a true relapse, or if your symptoms may be more in alignment with a pseudo-exacerbation. MS Focus: Why is it important to distinguish between a relapse and a pseudo-exacerbation? Dr. Okuda: One reason is, from a medical standpoint, it’s important that we recognize symptoms accurately. The reason for that is many patients receive steroids by prescription as a result of these attacks, and there are short- and long-term consequences from such exposures. Second, it’s always great to allow for a patient to be relieved when they are told that their current experience seems to be more typical for something that relates to a pseudo-exacerbation or false attack versus what many feel represents disease advancement when an exacerbation occurs. MSFocus:Does the app track a patient’s history of relapses over time? Dr. Okuda: The currentversion that’s available really is designed to store information within the Cloud, but it’s not necessarily designed to learn from patients over time. But know that there are variants that we are working on and other variants that exist to allow for the incorporation of long-term data that are entered by the users. Another really exciting aspect of that app that I should mention is that it captures both passive and active data.Whyis this important? Active data really represents information that is provided from a user, so do you have numbness inyourarm, doyou haveweakness in your arm, or your leg or is your bladder not working right or are you not thinking well? These are active metrics. The passive metrics are the ones that are really exciting and ones that will represent the future of software tools designed for healthcare. That includes where you live, so it may actually track weather patterns within your given region and whether it’s a change in temperature change in barometric pressure or humidity. These things may be contributors to why certain patients may not be feeling well. Life with MS Dr. Darin Okuda is an innovator in the field of MS treatment. In fact, he serves as director of Neuroinnovation at UT Southwestern, as well as director of the Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroimmunology Imaging Program, and deputy director of the Multiple Sclerosis Program and Clinical Center for Multiple Sclerosis. He recently spoke with MS Focus about a new app for people with MS that he developed, MS Relapse Tool.