Skip to main content

Main menu

  • About Us
    • Leadership
    • Our Team
    • Vision, Mission and Values
    • Health and Economic Impact
    • Strategic Plan
  • Our Research
    • Research Focus
      • Brain Health
      • Cancer
      • Cardiovascular Conditions and Diseases
      • Digital Health
      • Health Policy
      • Immunity and Infectious Diseases
      • Joint Health and Mobility
      • Respiratory and Lung Health
      • Spinal Cord Injury and Rehabilitation
    • Research Centres and Programs
      • BC Centre on Substance Use
      • Centre for Aging SMART
      • Centre for Cardiovascular Innovation
      • Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation
      • Centre for Lung Health
      • Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health
      • Immunity and Infection Research Centre
      • International Collaboration On Repair Discoveries
      • Ovarian Cancer Research Centre
      • Vancouver Prostate Centre
      • Community Research Program
      • Emergency Medicine Research Program
      • Hematology Research Program
      • Skin Research Program
      • Other Research Focus Areas
    • News and Stories
    • Researcher Directory
    • Events and Workshops
  • Research Services
    • New to VCHRI
      • Working at VCHRI
      • Regulations and Training
      • Membership with VCHRI
    • Starting Your Project
      • Research Facilitation
      • Awards and Funding
      • Grant Management
      • Operational Approval
      • CST Cerner
    • Developing Your Project
      • Clinical Trials Administration
      • Clinical Research Unit
      • Research Privacy
      • Financial Policies and Procedures
    • Additional Support
      • Education and Training
      • Communications and Branding
      • Media Relations
      • Study Recruitment Support
      • Innovation and Industry Partnership
    • Internal Awards
    • Clinical Research
    • Innovation and Partnership
  • Participate in Research
    • Reasons to Participate
    • Participant Stories
    • Find a Study
    • Recruitment Support

User menu

  • Log in

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Our Research
  3. News and Stories
  4. Common treatment for multiple sclerosis may prolong life

Common treatment for multiple sclerosis may prolong life

News Releases Mar 18, 2019 4 minutes

News Release | Study followed nearly 6,000 people with MS in Canada and France over two decades.

Researchers from the University of British Columbia and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute have found that a widely prescribed drug for multiple sclerosis (MS) is associated with longer survival for patients.

The study, published today in the journal Brain, found that people with MS who took a beta interferon drug had a 32 per cent lower mortality risk than those that did not take the drug. This was particularly evident among MS patients who took beta interferon for more than three years.

The study, which followed nearly 6,000 people with MS in Canada and France over a period of more than two decades, is the first and largest of its kind to look at mortality associated with beta interferon for the treatment of MS.

“This is a significant study,” said lead author Elaine Kingwell. “Although these drugs have been prescribed since the mid-1990s, it takes time before scientists can look at the effect of these treatments on a long-term outcome like survival. We found that patients who were treated with these drugs during routine clinical practice survived longer overall than patients who had not taken beta interferon.”

Elaine Kingwell is a postdoctoral fellow in the faculty of medicine, the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health at UBC and the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute.

MS is a disease that affects the central nervous system, in which cells from the immune system attack and damage the nerve cells’ protective sheath. The disease often results in disability and can have a significant impact on quality of life. 

The beta interferons were the first drugs to be approved for the treatment of relapsing-onset MS, which is the most common form of the disease. They have been used to treat MS longer than any other disease-modifying therapy.     

Comparing mortality rates between two countries

For the study, the researchers followed 5,989 people with relapsing-onset MS from as early as 1986 until 2013, in British Columbia and France, to determine what disease modifying drugs they took and how long they survived. The mean age of the study participants (who had not received drug treatments for MS before the start of the study) was 42 years. The mean age at death for the 742 people who did not survive to the end of the study was 61.

The findings were consistent between the two geographic groups and between men and women. MS patients who took beta interferon for at least six months had a reduced mortality risk when compared to MS patients who did not take beta interferon. Taking the drug for more than three years had an even stronger association with increased survival. Moreover, increased survival was noted even for individuals who started the drug after age 40, or five or more years after disease onset.

Findings are encouraging to those on beta interferon

Vancouver resident Sharon Roman, who was diagnosed with MS two decades ago, describes the results as “encouraging.”

“The study findings could impact a lot of people, not just because of the sheer number of patients that are on beta interferon worldwide, but also because it offers comfort in terms of our longevity—and comfort is in short supply for those with a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis,” she said. 

“This offers a potential incentive that could conquer a dislike or a fear of injections and might encourage people to adhere to the prescribed dosing schedule,” she added. 

Quality of life needs to be considered, too

Despite the positive findings, the researchers caution that longevity isn’t everything.

“Now that we know that life might be extended for people with MS who take these drugs, we do have to consider quality of life,” said the study’s senior author Helen Tremlett, professor in the division of neurology at UBC and the Canada Research Chair in neuroepidemiology and multiple sclerosis. “Further research to look at this aspect of treatment outcomes is certainly warranted.” 

The researchers hope to now look at the association of survival with some of the newer MS drugs. Tremlett has received a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to undertake this work.

The study was co-authored by Dr. Emmanuelle Leray at Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Santé Publique and Dr. Gilles Edan at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Rennes in Rennes, France, and Dr. John Petkau in the department of statistics and Dr. Joel Oger and Feng Zhu in the department of medicine (neurology) at UBC. It was supported by the U.S. National Multiple Sclerosis Society and La Fondation pour l'aide à la recherche sur la sclérose en plaques. 

 

 

Researchers

Helen Tremlett

Related Articles

Heart attack risk found to be higher for people with multiple sclerosis

Bringing multiple sclerosis out of the dark

Controversial “liberation therapy” fails to treat multiple sclerosis: UBC-Vancouver Coastal Health research

Share:

  • Facebook
  • Linkedin
  • Twitter
  • Email

Related Research Centres/Programs

Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health

Get the latest research headlines in your inbox

Subscribe

Recent News and Stories

Type
Announcement

Investigator Awards 2023 Recipients

Mar 21, 2023 award
Type
Stories

Ask an expert: Is my menstrual pain normal, or could I have endometriosis?

Mar 16, 2023 women, endometriosis, preventative
Type
Stories

Honing in on precision treatments for endometriosis

Mar 14, 2023 genetics, treatment options
See more news

Get updates!

Join our newsletter mailing list to stay up to date on features and releases.

Subscribe

Quick Links

  • News and Stories
  • Careers
  • Events
  • Media Enquiries

Follow Us

  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

© 2023 VCHRI. All rights reserved.

  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy