Obesity may Increase the Risk of Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis

In this single-center study of 453 German children with a multiple sclerosis diagnosis, obesity was connected with twofold greater odds of the disease and more frequent failure of first-line therapy with interferon beta-1a or 1b and glatiramer acetate, thereby increasing the number of patients on second-line treatment.

In this study, increased pediatric MS risk appeared to be associated with obesity, and obese patients did not respond well to first-line medicines; altered pharmacokinetics appeared to be most likely factors in treatment response, implying that gaining healthy weight or adjusting the dose according to BMI could improve therapy response.

Source: Eurekalert