Study Shows MS More Active in the Spring and Summer Months

New research shows that multiple sclerosis (MS) may be more active in the spring and summer months. A team of researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital discovered on the scan results that lesions occurred three times more aggressive during warm weather rather than cold climate.

The participants received a total of 939 MRI brain scans in that period, with an total average of 22 scans each. Initially, each participant had one scan a week for eight weeks, then eight scans every other week, and after that, one follow up scan every six months.

“Our results showed that the appearance of lesions on brain scans was two to three times higher in the months of March to August, compared to other months of the year,” said study author Dominik Meier, of Brigham and Women”s Hospital in Boston and a member of the American Academy of Neurology.

Seasonal changes have been reported before in clinical markers of MS disease activity and in levels of proinflammatory cytokines, however MRI investigations into seasonality have been few and limited, the researchers wrote. Early research has shown that vitamin D from exposure to sunlight may have a protective effect against MS – a long-term inflammatory condition of the central nervous system.

This research could have a large impact on the testing of new medicines, as the six-month trials could show different results depending on which season they are performed in.

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease that impacts the central nervous system and affects approximately one in 1,000 individuals in North America.

The research was published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.