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Brenda Banwell, MD, Discusses Treatment Options for Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis
Brenda Banwell, MD, Chief, Division of Neurology, Professor of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, said that there are 3 areas of treatment associated with pediatric multiple sclerosis (MS).
Brenda Banwell, MD, Chief, Division of Neurology, Professor of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, said that there are 3 areas of treatment associated with pediatric multiple sclerosis (MS). The first is the treatment of the acute attack. The acute attack, or relapse, is treated the same in both pediatric and adult cases with corticosteroids or immunoglobulin. The second treatment area is chronic multiple sclerosis where first-line therapies are utilized like Interferon beta 1a, Interferon beta 1b, and glatiramer acetate. Finally, there is escalation therapy, which can be treated with natalizumab. International consensus guidelines and shared care models are used by clinicians to treat patients because there are no clinical trials for the treatment of pediatric MS today.
“Within the next few years we are going to see the first trials in pediatric onset multiple sclerosis,” said Dr Banwell. “New therapies, particularly ones that are oral, will be brought to trial for pediatric onset MS patients so, that we can start to gain the level of evidence for children with MS that we have for adults with the disease. I think that is going to be our major advance in the next few years.”
STEER Data Open Door to SMA Gene Therapy for Wider Age Range of Children
March 19th 2025Delivery of onasemnogene abeparvovec into the intrathecal space was safe and effective for children with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) aged 2 to 17 years, who had previously been shut out of receiving gene therapy.
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The Importance of Examining and Preventing Atrial Fibrillation
August 29th 2023At this year’s American Society for Preventive Cardiology Congress on CVD Prevention, Emelia J. Benjamin, MD, ScM, delivered the Honorary Fellow Award Lecture, “The Imperative to Focus on the Prevention of Atrial Fibrillation,” as the recipient of this year’s Honorary Fellow of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology award.
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Promoting Equity in Public Health: Policy, Investment, and Community Engagement Solutions
June 28th 2022On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we speak with Georges C. Benjamin, MD, executive director of the American Public Health Association, on the core takeaways of his keynote session at AHIP 2022 on public health policy and other solutions to promote equitable health and well-being.
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How Access to SMA Treatment Varies Globally and by Insurance Type
March 18th 2025Posters presented at the 2025 Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) Clinical & Scientific Conference show that therapeutic advances in treating spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) are not uniformly making it into the hands of patients who could benefit.
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