Hello !!
I am Saloua Mrabet, the new MENACTRIMS fellow.
I am an MSologist from Tunis, Tunisia.
I am interested in Multiple Sclerosis and related inflammatory diseases and especially some hot topics in this field: HSCT, highly active DMT, Ethnicity and MS, genetics of MS and Women’s Issues in MS.
Happy to be in London for 6 months
Hoping to access the MS world’s experts and to spread the MS knowledge in my country.
I am planning to learn about AHSCT as a treatment for MS and to start an AHSCT programme in Tunisia.
Dear Honoured Guest
Very pleased indeed to meet you, but what’s MENACTRIMS?
Middle East North Africa Committee for Research and Treatment in Multiple Sclerosis
Highly relevant to me personally at the moment- thanks Steve
Props bro. Do I get to be an honourary boy yet?
Good luck
Best wishes
Welcome to the blog. What is the prevalence of MS in Tunisia? Often MS is considered a disease of far Northern and Southern latitudes or with European ethnicities.
Huge increase in Iran over recent decades.
So it would appear…
Welcome.
Good luck.
Best wishes.
from Switzerland
Hi Helvetica-
Which canton?
Good luck and best wishes – I also with there will be more look into Ethnicity and MS than simply differences of Ying and Yang’s.
Welcome to the blog! Hopefully you will be providing us with some future posts and updates.
As somewhat of an initiation to the blog, it would be nice to hear your thoughts on why you decided to focus on AHSCT over say highly effective IRTs, which have been shown to provide similar long term efficacy to AHSCT, yet with a safer risk profile.
One of the main concepts I learned on this blog is to treat early and with highly effective treatments. Cladribine given at CIS has very good long term efficacy. ALEM provides similar results.
Figured this question might be a good way of getting to know you and school of thought.
When you say ” which have been shown” – where are those data/comparisons ? And what we also learned from this blog, all those mentioned options are far less efficient than aHSCT, otherwise why would anyone consider it. Of course, hsct being certainly with not the same safety profile but that is the risk that one takes or not…maybe this is topic?
Well Dam, my question was for Saloua Mrabet.
But since you asked, here is just small bit of data on the long-term efficacy of Cladribine:
https://medical.emdserono.com/content/dam/web/health-care/biopharma/web/USMI/congress-presentations/Cladribine-2-Giovannoni-G-et-al-CLASSIC-MS-Long-term-Efficacy-and-Real-World-Treatment-Phase-III-Parent.pdf
After 10 years, 68% of participants did not require any further treatments. Can you say the same thing about aHSCT? Zero deaths in Cladribine treated. How many die from aHSCT? 1% 2% 3%, any amount of death is too much IMO.
So yes, based on my research there is no way I would ever risk aHSCT when I can get similar if not better results with a less risky alternative.
Maybe you should watch the “Introducing Selma Blair” movie. She received aHSCT from the amazing (sarcasm added) Dr. Burt, she almost died from the procedure, and it did not provide her with any more benefit than CLAD/ALEM.