International Journal of MS Care: May/June 2023 Highlights

IJMSC May/June 2023

The International Journal of MS Care is a peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary, open access journal and the official journal of the Consortium of MS Centers. The journal strives to be useful and pertinent to all who are part of an MS care team, including physicians, nurses, therapists, and more.

As part of NeurologyLive's ongoing partnership with the CMSC, we're happy to spotlight some of the latest peer-reviewed articles published in IJMSC.

Read summaries of the articles in our most recently published issue below and head to IJMSC.com for more.

Also, this past month IJMSC and many from the multiple sclerosis (MS) care community attended the 2023 Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) Annual Meeting, held May 31 to June 3, in Aurora, Colorado. If you missed the meeting this year, make sure to take time to read the abstracts to catch up on all the latest research in MS.

1. Psychometric Properties and Clinical Utility of the Distress Thermometer in Caregivers of Persons With Multiple Sclerosis

Douglas and Plow

doi:10.7224/1537-2073.2022-024

Easy to administer and clinically validated, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Distress Thermometer is a concise tool used to measure distress in the oncology sphere. On a simple outline of a thermometer that ranges from 0 "No distress" to 10 "Extreme distress," patients indicate their level of discomfort. Given that the literature shows that caregivers for persons with MS have increased anxiety, depression, and distress, this screening tool would seem to be a good choice for use. Could this tool be a valid measure in this different population?

2. Relevance and Impact of Social Support on Quality of Life for Persons With Multiple Sclerosis

Eizaguirre, Yastremiz, Ciufia, et al

doi:10.7224/1537-2073.2022-012

People with chronic illnesses, like MS, often feel as if the world is passing them by; they perceive that their friends and even family can continue lives unaffected by a diagnosis that changes their lives forever. The key to this is the perception that affects their lived reality. In this study, although persons with MS and controls had the same number of relationships, the quality of those relationships affected those with MS more. When looking to improve patient QOL, clinicians should consider interventions to improve their social network.

3. Reasons for Engaging in Complementary and Alternative Medicine Among Highly Educated Women With Multiple Sclerosis

Krogh, Skovard, Lynning, Steenberg

doi:10.7224/1537-2073.2021-133

"[P]atients who feel alienated from conventional health care may ultimately discontinue conventional treatment." In the rapidly advancing world of MS care, this sentence stopped me in my tracks. Over the past 30 years, the evolution of disease-modifying treatments has extended the lives of many of those with MS, so what could make someone discontinue treatment?

4. Multiple Sclerosis and Use of Medical Cannabis: A Retrospective Review of a Neurology Outpatient Population

Rainka, Aladeen, Mattle, et al

doi:10.7224/1537-2073.2022-006

Despite the legal limits on its use, medical cannabis (MC) continues to be a hot topic in MS treatment. This medical record review begins by demonstrating MC effect on MS symptoms, but moves beyond that into the arena of its integration into treatment plans, including effects on accompanying medications, adverse events, and THC to CBD ratios, formulations, and administration.

5. Effect of Nordic Walking Training on Walking Capacity and Quality of Life for People With Multiple Sclerosis

Santoyo-Medina, Cabo, Xaudaró, et al

doi:10.7224/1537-2073.2021-070

Nordic walking (NW) might just be a rehabilitation program that fulfills the physical and mental/emotional needs of individuals with mild to moderate MS impairment. When compared to conventional indoor aerobic training via a cycloergometer and treadmill, NW achieved the same improvements in walking velocity and distance, but outperformed it on walking capacity, fatigue, and perceived quality of life.

6. Standardized Systematic Description of Provision of Care for Multiple Sclerosis at a Local Level: A Demonstration Study

Tabatabaei-Jafari, Bagheri, Lueck, et al

doi:10.7224/1537-2073.2022-014

Taking the Australian Capital Territory as its surveying ground, this study of MS care availability and provision in a local area is a precursor to a future wave of research. The authors encourage the standardized and widespread application of this kind of study to allow for local and national care to be compared and assessed. A foundation of this knowledge would also open avenues for future studies to track changes over time and compare recommended models of care.

7. Longitudinal Olfactory Patterns in Multiple Sclerosis: A Scoping Review and Implication for Use in Management of Disease

Todd, Sivakumar, Lynch, et al

doi:10.7224/1537-2073.2022-019

Could olfaction be a clinical marker for MS? This is a scoping review of longitudinal studies investigating the intersection of MS diagnosis and prognosis and olfaction. Two patterns were found. Odor threshold appeared to correlate with other clinical markers for relapse. Decreases in discrimination and identification seemed to correlate with other biomarkers indicating neurodegeneration, perhaps due to the periform cortex being situated between the amygdala and insula where MS demyelation is often seen. Future research is needed to investigate the potential of olfaction as an important clinical marker in the treatment of MS. *Readers can earn CE credit with this article.