AAN 2021 | Vascular disease risk factors in multiple sclerosis patients

Vijayshree Yadav, MD, MCR, FANA, FAAN, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, discusses the study on vascular disease risk factors in multiple sclerosis (MS) presented at the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) 2021 Annual Meeting. The study analyzed MS patients with and without vascular disease factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity, to assess differences in the brain metabolism of these two groups. Dr Yadav gives an overview of this 3 year-long study that started in 2015 and is trying to understand the connection between vascular disease and MS progression. The analysis of baseline data showed differences between these groups, patients with associated vascular diseases have a higher disability and brain atrophy compared to healthy MS patients.