Gilenya® data confirm reducing brain shrinkage matters for people with MS due to its association with long-term disability progression - Seite 2

The rate of brain shrinkage for people with MS is around three to five times faster than people without the disease[3],[4],[5],[6], and what is lost cannot be recovered. Brain shrinkage can start early[7],[8],[9],[10], often goes unnoticed and is associated with a loss of physical and cognitive (i.e. memory) function for patients with MS[11].

Analyses of the pooled data from the phase III FREEDOMS core and extension studies showed that irrespective of treatment received brain shrinkage was associated with future long-term disability progression[2].

About Multiple Sclerosis  
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disorder of the central nervous system (CNS) that disrupts the normal functioning of the brain, optic nerves and spinal cord through inflammation and tissue loss[12]. The evolution of MS results in an increasing loss of both physical (e.g. walking) and cognitive (e.g. memory) function[13]. This has a substantial negative impact on the approximately 2.3 million people worldwide affected by MS[14], a disease that begins in early adulthood, most often between the ages of 20 and 40[15].

The loss of physical and cognitive function in MS is driven by two types of damage that result in the loss of neurons and brain tissue - distinct inflammatory lesions (referred to as focal damage), and more widespread inflammatory neurodegenerative processes (referred to as diffuse damage). Focal damage results in the loss of brain tissue and can clinically present as relapses. Diffuse damage starts early in the disease, often goes unnoticed and is also associated with loss of brain tissue and accumulated loss of function[16],[17],[18].

About Gilenya
Gilenya is the only oral disease-modifying therapy (DMT) to impact the course of relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) with high efficacy across four key measures of disease activity: relapses, MRI lesions, brain shrinkage (brain volume loss) and disability progression[19],[20],[21],[22],[23].

Gilenya targets both focal and diffuse CNS damage. It prevents cells that cause focal inflammation from reaching the brain (referred to as 'peripheral' action), but also enters the CNS and reduces the diffuse damage by preventing the activation of harmful cells residing in the CNS (referred to as 'central action')[24],[25],[26]. It is important to address both focal and diffuse damage in RRMS to effectively impact disease activity and help preserve an individual's physical (e.g. walking) and cognitive (e.g. memory) function.