Patricia K. Coyle, MD: Early Multiple Sclerosis Identification

"Early identification and early treatment appear to be extremely important in optimizing your long-term outcome."

Experts in the multiple sclerosis (MS) space have leaned their thinking more and more toward the idea that early treatment is better for improving patient outcomes. Patricia Coyle, MD, is one of those experts.

The director of the Comprehensive Multiple Sclerosis Center at Stony Brook Neuroscience Institute sat with NeurologyLive to discuss how the early diagnosis of MS, as early as the clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) stage, can improve the care of patients. Specifically, she highlighted the need for primary care physicians to partner with MS centers to ensure that proper treatment and care is being administered.

One way to improve this is to improve the education about the early warning signs of the condition so that when signs arise, primary care physicians can pick up on them sooner, rather than later. Then, through partnerships with MS centers and specialists, patients can be properly treated. Coyle said that listening to patients when these signs appear can really make a difference in terms of getting them treatment within 3 to 6 months of their first clinical sign of MS.