In the final episode of Gulf News and Novartis’ five-part vodcast series on multiple sclerosis, MS Talks – Keep Moving Forward, host Muna Al Harbi looks at how patients can successfully manage the disease and have a happy and productive life.
She speaks to expert guest Dr Bassem Yamout, who is currently the principal investigator on several ongoing international MS research trials. They discuss the current approaches to tackling MS and how over the last 25 years treatments have advanced so much that it's now the most rapidly evolving therapeutic area in all of neurology – even faster than Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s.
They also discuss the fact that the current main treatment concept is to control the disease very early on to prevent the patient from going into the progressive phase. This is proving highly successful, with the main effects of the disease being delayed by up to 15 years.
The episode also focuses on the impact the disease has on women – noting that globally twice the number of women suffer from the disease than men.
However, Dr Yamout says even if you are a woman with an MS diagnosis, life is far from over thanks to advanced new treatments.
“A woman with MS can do anything; they can get married, they can have as many children as they want; there are no restrictions,” he tells Muna.
This is an uplifting end to the series, don’t miss it!
To catch up on the previous episodes, click here
