Life (and Death) with MS: What's Expected?

I’m sorry to have to be the bearer of bad news, but we are all going to die. Don’t know how, don’t know when, but I do know it’s going to happen. I’m not trying to get you into a down mood, but fact is fact.

What people with MS should know, however, is that life expectancy can vary based on your treatment plan. In general, life expectancy for people with MS is about average or a few years shorter, depending on a bit of luck, pluck, and genes—although it’s a bit hard to predict the number of your own days with much accuracy, MS or no!

Good news on the MS front, however. A popular medication used to treat relapsing-remitting MS may just be the ticket to a life destined for the most common causes of death. That is, you can quite cheerily die of the same things as the rest of the world: old age, too much rich food, a bit too much grog, or a lack of exercise.

Interferon Beta-1b

A recent follow-up on the landmark study from the University of California revealed that individuals with relapse-remitting MS who started interferon beta-1b treatment soon after diagnosis have a similar causes of death as the general population. In addition, they were significantly less likely to die of complications pertaining to MS than their counterparts who did not receive early exposure to the drug.

However, one limitation (and a rather important one, for those of you who didn’t start the drug early!) is that the long-term follow-up study couldn’t tell whether the group with early exposure was less likely to die of MS-related causes because of early exposure or because of a larger cumulative lifetime exposure to interferon beta-1b than the study’s control group.

When the drug was first being tested, one group received the interferon beta-1b treatment and the other did not. After the drug study ended, however, everyone was free to receive any and all MS-related treatments they and their doctors saw fit. It’s possible that this early treatment advantage could just come from a longer time using the drug. The average length of diagnosis of participants in the study is now at 29 years.

Although people from each group did die from causes thought to be related to MS, all of the excess deaths in the control group were found to be connected to MS. The rest of the deceased participants suffered from cardiovascular disease, cancer, accidents, sepsis, and other common causes of death. On the whole, the group is still pretty young, so additional follow-up should lend even more clarity to the issue.

Getting Philosophical…

Not the happiest study ever, I will admit, but at least one with some news of interest to those with MS. Now, what to do with this info? If you’re recently diagnosed, talk to your GP about interferon beta-1b. If not, discuss your treatment plan with your doc. Is your current treatment helping your MS symptoms or delaying remission? Are you experiencing MS-related complications that are not under control? The important thing to keep in mind is that your MS treatment needs to be working for you.

No matter when Death comes a-knockin’ or what outfit he’s wearing when he rolls up (Pulmonary infection? Stroke? Tumble on icy steps?), what’s truly important is that you don’t waste the time you were given. Dwelling on statistics, life expectancy, probable causes of death, and rotten luck is only worth it for as long as it takes to read this post. The rest of the time, remember that life is precious and short for us all. Don’t waste a single extra second of it wondering whether MS will finally get your goat, or you may be one of those unlucky people who so ironically get hit by a bus, and wouldn’t you feel silly then!