Multiple Sclerosis: Smoking After Diagnosis Linked To Disease Progression

New findings published in JAMA Neurology reveal that continued smoking following the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) could accelerate the progression of the disease.

The neurodegenerative illness begins with an initial course of irregular and worsening relapses that typically change and progress into secondary progressive (SP) disease throughout a 20-year-period.

In this recent study, researchers examined patients in Sweden with MS who smoked at the time of their diagnosis. From then on, 216 converted to SP. Among the 728 smokers, 332 were classified as "continuers" who smoked continuously from the year after their diagnosis and 118 were "quitters" who stopped smoking the year after their diagnosis. Data on 1,012 never smokers also were included, with close to 60 percent of MS patients in the present study cohort and in a Swedish cohort of new cases.

After conducting an analysis, the researchers found that each additional year of smoking after diagnosis accelerated the time of SP conversion by about 4.7 percent. Another analysis suggested that patients who continued to smoke each year after diagnosis converted to SP faster at around age 48 than those who quit at close to age 56. Furthermore, the authors noted that it is impossible to rule out other confounding factors.

"This study demonstrates that smoking after MS diagnosis has a negative impact on the progression of the disease, whereas reduced smoking may improve patient quality of life, with more years before the development of SP disease. Accordingly, evidence clearly supports advising patients with MS who smoke to quit. Health care services for patients with MS should be organized to support such a lifestyle change," the study concluded, courtesy of a news release. 

In a related commentary, Myla D. Goldman, M.D., of the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, and Olaf Stüve, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, wrote the following: "In summary, this study adds to the important research demonstrating that smoking is an important modifiable risk factor in MS. Most importantly, it provides the first evidence, to our knowledge, that quitting smoking appears to delay onset of secondary progressive MS and provide protective benefit. Therefore, even after MS diagnosis, smoking is a risk factor worth modifying."

Related Articles

Multiple Sclerosis And Diet: Salt May Increase Risk Of Health Issue

For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).