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Multiple sclerosis found to be more aggressive in black patients
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted March 1, 2010
Black patients with multiple sclerosis tend to have more severe and frequent attacks than do whites with the disease, according to a study in the Feb. 16 Neurology.
Researchers examined the MRIs of 567 adult MS patients (488 whites, 79 blacks). The scans were conducted at the Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center at Buffalo General Hospital in New York three months after the patient's most recent clinical visit.
Researchers found that black patients had increased tissue damage, as measured by magnetization transfer ratio and higher lesion volumes than did white patients (link).
Researchers said the findings indicate that the aggressive disease process in blacks is associated with increased macroscopic and microscopic tissue damage and may be due to a reduced capacity for remyelination.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/03/01/prbf0301.htm.
