Significant Barriers Prevent People with MS from Fully Committing to Treatment Regimen, New Surv...(icacy and safety storage requirements an...),Health

According to Ross, newly diagnosed patients first must accept the fact that they have a chronic illness that requires life-long care. For many, anxieties about treatment can be overcome by the desire to limit the impact of their condition, and by understanding that early, effective and consistent treatment may positively affect the course of their disease. In fact, more than two-thirds of respondents in the survey agreed, "I would have started treatment earlier (after my first attack, even before official diagnosis) if I had known that it would better decrease the risk of disability.(1) But, Ross added, many patients require ongoing support in order to maintain that commitment.

In the recent survey, patients cited various injection-related issues as being significant barriers to their committing to therapy. Four in 10 patients (41 percent) named at least one injection side effect as an extremely or very strong barrier keeping them from staying on medication, such as skin reactions (14 percent) and lumps in the skin (10 percent).(1) When Genelle, age 29, was diagnosed with MS, she experienced skin-related side effects with her first medication. "I was really unhappy with the painful and embarrassing side effects that I was experiencing," she said. "Once I switched to another medication called Betaseron(R)*, the side effects improved."(a)

Like the 21 percent of study respondents who reported not wanting to inject themselves as a barrier to taking an MS medication, Genelle also had some misgivings about the required self-injections. "With Betaseron, I not only had to give myself far fewer injections, the BETA nurse assigned to me helped me overcome my anxiety about injecting myself. I can call her any time I need her, which has really given me the support I need to stay on therapy," she said.(a)

For Jillian, age 19, the issue of stayin
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