Grant: Project Grant

Canada has one of the world's highest rates of multiple sclerosis (MS). MS is a chronic disease of the brain and spinal cord. MS often starts in young adulthood and there is no cure. The goal of our research is to find out how safe and effective the drugs used to treat MS are when used in the real world. In the last two decades, over 10 different drugs have been approved to treat people with MS. These drugs are very costly. They can require regular injections and frequent blood tests to monitor side effects (safety). We know how well these drugs work in the short-term from the clinical studies. In the real world though, people with MS may take these drugs for many years. We do not yet understand all their possible benefits and side effects when taken long-term. Few studies as large as ours have looked at the range of possible side effects, including cancer, stroke and depression. We will also look at whether the MS drugs have benefits which are often hard to measure, such as fewer hospitalizations or doctors' visits. Our research brings together medical data collected for over 20 years within multiple large health databases in five Canada provinces. No study as large or as comprehensive as ours has ever been done. Our findings will be directly relevant to Canadians. We will be able to include people often excluded from clinical studies, such as older adults or those with co-existing medical conditions. Our research will be independent from the drug companies who make and market the MS drugs. This important research will help develop a framework that can be used to study the benefits and side effects of future new drugs for MS across Canada. Our study will provide much needed information to help treatment-related decision-making for both individuals and doctors, ultimately helping to improve the lives of people living with MS.