Staying on therapy
Adherence
Whichever disease-modifying therapy you decide is the best option for you, it’s paramount to stick with it. These therapies are intended for long-term use, and in order to achieve the full benefit of therapy, the medication should be taken as prescribed.
Good adherence is regarded as the best possible strategy for managing MS successfully (1), because research has shown that stopping treatment may result in the return of pre-treatment disease activity.(2)
What is treatment adherence?
Adherence refers to how closely you follow a prescribed treatment regimen. It includes your willingness to start treatment and your ability to take medications exactly as directed by your healthcare team. In MS, improved adherence leads to better treatment outcomes (3).
Like with any therapy, people may stop their medication after a period of weeks or months—and here are some reasons why:
- No change in how they feel
- Experiencing side effects
- May suffer a setback even though they are on medication
MS experts recommend that people continue with their medication and adhere to their treatment schedule, unless the side effects are too severe, the medication is clearly not working, or a better treatment becomes available. MS is a chronic disease; therefore it is important that you do not stop disease-modifying drug treatments before consulting your healthcare professional. But by sticking with your therapy for the long-term, you increase your chances of experiencing the benefits of disease-modifying therapy. These benefits include slower progression of disability, letting you maintain your ability for longer, and fewer relapses over time. For example, researchers followed a large Italian network of over 2,000 people with MS and recorded their experiences with disease modifying drugs, such as interferon beta medications. (4) They found that people who had taken their interferon beta medications longer (more than 4 years) had a 4- to 5-fold reduction in the risk for disability progression and relapse rate worsening that those who took medications for less than 4 years.(4) The same study showed that people with MS who only took their interferon beta medication for a maximum of 2 years, had the highest risk of disability progression and more frequent relapses.(4)
At no time should the information presented replace or supersede the recommendations of your own physician. If you have any concerns, please take the information or questions to your physician.
References:
1. Ross AP. Tolerability, adherence, and patient outcomes. Neurology. 2008;71(24 Suppl 3):S21-3.
2. National Clinical Advisory Board of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Disease management consensus statement. 2007. Available at: http://www.nationalmssociety.org/about-multiple-sclerosis/treatments/index.aspx.
3. Ross AP. Strategies for optimal disease management, adherence, and outcomes in multiple sclerosis patients. Neurology. 2008;71(24 Suppl 3):S1-2.
4.Trojano M, et al. The Italian Multiple Sclerosis Database Network (MSDN): the risk of worsening according to IFNß exposure in multiple sclerosis. Mult Scler. 2006; 12:578-85.
Additional source
Adherence. National MS Society. Available at: http://www.nationalmssociety.org/about-multiple-sclerosis/treatments/adherence/index.aspx.
