ABSTRACT
Memory deficits are frequently seen in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). The focus of this study was to examine semantic encoding and the rate of forgetting in MS patients. The prose passages of the Wechsler Memory Scale Logical Memory subtest were used to examine MS patients' semantic sensitivity to the idea units of a story. The stories were divided into high, medium, and low idea units, reflecting their overall importance to the meaning of the story. MS patients recalled fewer idea units than controls, but both groups favored the main ideas relative to the nonessential details at both the immediate and delayed recall of the passages. Likewise, MS patients forgot information at a much faster rate than controls. Implications of this faster forgetting rate in MS patients are discussed from an applied setting.
Subject(s)
Mental Recall , Multiple Sclerosis/psychology , Semantics , Adult , Aged , Cognition , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Time FactorsABSTRACT
We randomized 59 patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis to receive azathioprine (AZA) 3.0 mg/kg daily or placebo in a double-masked therapeutic trial. Analysis of data for predetermined primary outcome measures demonstrated a significant difference favoring AZA for observed mean exacerbation rate after 2 years of therapy and time to deterioration in both Ambulation Index and Kurtzke Expanded Disability Status Scale score. This study confirms a modest therapeutic benefit for azathioprine previously reported by other investigators.
Subject(s)
Azathioprine/therapeutic use , Multiple Sclerosis/drug therapy , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Azathioprine/adverse effects , Disability Evaluation , Humans , Middle Aged , Multiple Sclerosis/mortality , Multiple Sclerosis/physiopathology , Recurrence , Survival AnalysisABSTRACT
Environmental factors implicated as affecting world-wide distribution of multiple sclerosis are reviewed. It is suggested that climate may be involved in the etiology of this disease. Diffused solar radiation effects on multiple sclerosis hospital admission rates are demonstrated.
Subject(s)
Climate , Multiple Sclerosis/epidemiology , Sunlight/adverse effects , Humans , Humidity/adverse effects , Multiple Sclerosis/etiology , North Dakota , Seasons , Space-Time Clustering , United StatesABSTRACT
Twenty-seven patients with chronic progressive multiple sclerosis were treated with high-dose intravenous cyclophosphamide induction on either an impatient or outpatient basis. Following induction, patients were randomized to alternate-month outpatient "maintenance" or "no maintenance" therapy. These groups, as well as 24 nonrandomized control patients, were compared with each other after 12, 18, and 24 months of follow-up. All groups were similar in age, sex, duration of disease, and degree of disability before treatment. Fifty-nine percent of all cyclophosphamide-treated patients were stable at 12 months compared with 17% of all patients in the nonrandomized control group at 12 months. A statistically significant difference persisted at 18 and 24 months. A trend favoring maintenance therapy when compared with no maintenance therapy was evident at 12, 18, and 24 months, but was not statistically significant. Inpatient vs outpatient induction therapy failed to influence treatment outcome. Toxic side effects of nausea and vomiting presented a serious obstacle to maintenance therapy as administered in this protocol.
