New survey: life expectancy in MSers

I am assuming that if you are regular visitor to this blog that you already know about the reduced life expectancy of MSers. Our new survey is exploring if neurologists are making MSers aware of this fact. I for one don't do as a matter of routine; I prefer to choose the moment when I think it is appropriate for the MSer to know this information and try and put the information in context. For example, it may be more appropriate to discuss life expectancy when providing information of risks and benefits of disease-modifying treatments (DMTs). The following is graph showing your the survival cure of Norwegian MSers compared to the general population; this data is very similar to other areas of  the world. 


The good news is that this data predates the DMT era and we now have new data that has shown that starting DMTs early impacts on survival.

Please see previous post on this topic:

MS and survival - long-term betaferon treatment improves survival, 29 May 2011; "average life expectancy is reduced by about ~10 years" As a patient I don't find ... much shorter duration. Any disease that lasts decades can't be called terminal; if it could then life itself could be considered a terminal disease.

Do you think neurologists and other MS healthcare workers should discuss this topic with MSers?

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