Pregnancy: Effect on Multiple Sclerosis, Treatment Considerations, and Breastfeeding.

ABSTRACT: Multiple sclerosis (MS) commonly affects women in childbearing years making pregnancy issues important for patients with MS and their families. Pregnancy is a naturally occurring disease modifier of MS associated with a 70% reduction in relapse rates in the third trimester. This relapse rate reduction during the last trimester is roughly equal to the most effective disease-modifying treatments for MS. Given this efficacy, various pregnancy factors have been tested to determine which play a part in pregnancy's protection, and some have been translated to completed and ongoing phase II clinical trials. In contrast to protective effects during pregnancy, the postpartum period entails increased relapse risk, which may be due to either abrupt removal of protective pregnancy factors after delive

SUBMITTER: Voskuhl R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5722767 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature