Specific symptoms could warn of EM more than a decade before diagnosis, the study finds

People with multiple sclerosis (EM) can show warning signals long before classic symptoms, and mental health concerns could be among the first red flags, according to new research.

A study by British Columbia University (UBC), published last week in Jama Network Open, examined medical records of 2,038 patients with autoimmune disease and compared them with 10,182 patients without it.

The researchers found that future patients with EM had high rates of problems related to mental health, visits of general practice and practice, and complaints of vague symptoms such as fatigue and pain, as soon as 15 years before the start of clear symptoms.

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“These findings suggest that EM can begin long before recognized above, with mental health problems such as early indicators,” the researchers wrote.

EM, which attacks myelin protective coating around nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, affects approximately one million adults in the United States, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

While there is no known cause or cure, treatment can help control symptoms and delay the progression of the disease, which can cause muscle weakness, vision changes, numbness and memory problems.

Previous investigations have shown that in the five to 10 years prior to a diagnosis of MS, people generally look for medical attention more frequently for headaches, fatigue, sleep disorders, pain, gastrointestinal problems and psychiatric concerns, the researchers wrote.

Always arriving late? A mental health condition could be the fault, experts say.

However, the UBC study tracked the doctor in the 25 years prior to the start of symptoms in patients with EM in British Columbia.

They found a constant increase in general practice visits that begin 15 years, followed by more frequent trips to psychiatrists that begin 12 years before the symptoms.

Neurology and ophthalmology visits increased eight to nine years before, probably due to blurred vision or ocular pain, two common early symptoms of EM.

Three to five years before the beginning, the emergency room and radiology visits increased sharply. In almost all specialties, medical visits reached their maximum point in the year before the symptoms began.

Psychiatrists, in particular, fired 159% before the start of EM, and mental health visits increased 76%, according to research.

The increase in psychiatric visits can be correlated with the early stages of immune deregulation related to the MS, since researchers observed the highest levels of certain chemical products and problems related to inflammation to the blood cell barrier.

IMPROVEMENT OF RESULTS

While most people who experience mental health problems, fatigue and headaches do not develop EM, researchers said that recognizing and characterizing the “prodromic phase”, the early period marked by subtle symptoms, could accelerate diagnosis and improve results.

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“Mental health and psychiatry problems can be among the earliest characteristics of the EM prodromic phase, which precedes the symptoms of the nervous system and visits to neurologists for several years,” said Senior author Dr. Helen Tremlett, professor of Neurology at UBC, News Digital.

“This suggests that in the future, there may be an opportunity to recognize and administer early MS, maximizing mental health and cerebral reserve,” he said.

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The findings also open “new ways for research in early biomarkers, lifestyle factors and other possible triggers that may be at stake during this phase previously overlooked the disease,” added the researcher.

Monitoring of early warning signals could also help detect other brain diseases, such as Alzheimer’s or ELA, and guarantee early intervention, Tremlett said.

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Between 2016 and 2021, MS cases increased worldwide from approximately 2.2 million to 2.9 million, according to an investigation published in July in the magazine Frontiers in Neurology.

The disease has gained public attention in recent years, since celebrities such as Selma Blair, Christina Applegate and Montel Williams have shared their life experiences with EM.