27 years of research have revealed a disturbing trend. Are women at a disadvantage?
Importantly, this happens despite the fact that these drugs are safe for pregnant women.
"We found that women are less likely to receive disease-modifying drugs than men with the same degree of multiple sclerosis. This is very concerning, as early treatment can significantly delay disease progression. Women who are not treated may have a poorer future prognosis and a higher risk of permanent disability. Yet, there are therapies that are safe during pregnancy or have long-lasting effects, even after discontinuation," said study author Dr. Sandra Vukusic from the University of Lyon in France.
For the study , researchers analyzed medical data from the past 27 years for nearly 17,000 women and nearly 6,000 men diagnosed with multiple sclerosis between the ages of 18 and 40. The average age of participants at diagnosis was 29.
They noted that there were differences between the sexes in the percentage of time (measured in person-years) that study participants spent taking disease-modifying drugs.
For women, it was 60.2% and for men, 61.3%. For stronger drugs, so-called high-efficacy therapies, the percentages were 23.5% and 25.3%, respectively.
The authors emphasized that although these differences seem small at first glance, the raw data do not take into account many important factors, such as the course of the disease, which is often more active in women, or moments when treatment was temporarily interrupted due to pregnancy and the postpartum period.
When these factors were taken into account, women were found to be 8% less likely to receive treatment than men. For modern, highly effective medications, this difference reached 20%.
Dr. Vukusic believes the likely reason for this is the desire to become pregnant. She said that many women with MS forgo or delay treatment to avoid harming their baby . This is despite the fact that some available medications are safe during pregnancy or remain effective long after discontinuation.
- For this reason, it is worth carefully analyzing the situation of each patient and not hastily giving up treatment - emphasized the neurologist.
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