Starting treatment for multiple sclerosis soon after first experiencing symptoms of the disease may slow its progression.
People who start treatment quickly are 45 percent less likely to advance to moderate disability in the next decade or so, compared to those who delay treatment, according to a study published in the journal Neurology.
The researchers describe moderate disability as still being able to walk unassisted but with mild to moderate issues with motor function, vision or thinking skills.
"When it comes to MS treatment, the earlier the better," one researcher said in a statement released by the American Academy of Neurology.
In MS, the body's immune system attacks the central nervous system (brain, spinal cord and optic nerves), damaging the substance known as myelin (sometimes called white matter) that insulates and protects nerves.
This slows or blocks messages between the brain and the body and can lead to such symptoms as vision problems, muscle weakness, tremors, numbness, fatigue, walking and balance issues, and more.
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No cure has been found for MS, but treatment has been shown to reduce the frequency and severity of symptoms and delay progression of the disease.
The study involved 580 people, 50 and younger (average age, 34), who were tracked and tested via magnetic resonance imaging and clinical exams for about 11 years.
It compared three groups: those who started treatment with at least one disease-modifying drug within six months of their earliest symptoms (194 people), those whose initial treatment came six to 16 months after first symptoms (192 people) and those who did not start treatment until more than 16 months had elapsed since symptoms began (194 people).
Those who started treatment the earliest also were found to be 60 percent less likely to have moved to a more advanced stage of the disease, called secondary progressive MS.
They were also 50 per cent more likely than late-starters to have MS that had not progressed in the year after starting treatment.
