Overview

• In the five years before diagnosis, future MS patients were about 8 times more likely to report neurological symptoms, 2.5 times more likely to have memory or concentration problems, twice as likely to report chronic pain or bladder/bowel issues, and 1.7 times more likely to experience depression or anxiety.
• The constellation of early features was consistent across gender, ethnicity and socio-economic backgrounds, strengthening evidence for an MS prodrome.
• The association between pre-diagnostic neurological symptoms and later MS was even stronger for men and for people from Black and Asian backgrounds.
• The analysis drew on anonymized GP records for more than 96,000 people, including about 15,000 with MS, from the CPRD Aurum dataset that covers roughly 20% of the UK population.
• The Queen Mary University of London team reports it is developing risk-prediction tools, with clinical use contingent on further validation and careful implementation.