Impact of CV risk factors
Commenting on the study, Dalia Rotstein, MD, assistant professor, department of neurology, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, session cochair, said: “This is an interesting study that captures the impact of cardiovascular risk factors on various measures of brain atrophy in MS.”
The cohort was quite young, under age 50, and the effect on brain atrophy was increased with more severe cardiovascular risk factors, she noted.
“The investigators compared these effects to a population of healthy controls and did not observe as substantial an effect in controls. However, they were likely underpowered for the analysis in the healthy controls because of a relatively small number of subjects with cardiovascular risk factors in this group,” Dr. Rotstein noted.
“More research is needed to determine whether the observed relationship is unique to MS and whether treating cardiovascular risk factors may help protect against neurodegeneration in MS,” she added.
Dr. Bonacchi has reported no relevant financial relationships. Dr. Rotstein has reported acting as a consultant for Roche, Alexion, Novartis, EMD Serono, and Sanofi Aventis.
SOURCE: Bonacchi R. et al. MSVirtual2020. Session PS04.05.
This article originally appeared on Medscape.com .