secondary progressive vs seconary relasping ms

[truelove47]

HI Every one,
I have seen thee term secondary progressive ms and secondary relasping ms.
Are theser terms different or the same?

I get so mixed up        .Just like lesions, hot spots or plaques.

UHG............medical terminology            whoa

[truelove47]

Thanks for the explanation.;
I understand a little more now.

You are so good at setting things straight for me   I get so easily mixed up at times

thank you again
Linda

[tonyad]

As always Thanks for that explanation Quix.

  So it is accurate, from what I have read, that DMD's are not doing any good
for someone who has passed in to Secondary Progressive? At least from research that I have read.

~Tonya

[Quixotic1]

Actually the term Secondary Relapsing isn't anything official.  Some people use it to refer to that person who is still having distinct relapses - that is sudden onset of worsening or new symptoms.  But, they are showing that the background progression of disability is becoming prominent at the same time.  It might be more accurate to call them Secondary Progressive But Still Relapsing.

It is these people whom the docs try to keep on the immunomodulating DMDs because they might still have an effect.

The purely Secondary Progressive no longer have relapses and show pure steady progression of their disabling symptoms.  Since it is the relapses that are connected to the inflammatory attacks on the myelin, it makes less sense to keep them on one of the firstline DMDs which are aimed at suppressing the inflammation of the antibody attack on the myelin.

Make sense?

Quix

lesions=hot spots=plaques=hyperintensities=foci of demyelination