The recent Consensus Statement of the Canadian MS Clinics Network recommended that all eligible patients be treated as early as possible in the course of their disease.

Emphasis on the reduction of relapses as early as possible is important because you may not always recover your previous level of functioning after a relapse. Quite often, irreversible nerve damage may have occurred during the relapse. That is why starting therapy early is so important. It is also critical that you keep taking your therapy to retain the benefits of early treatment.

Recent studies have also examined the extent of nerve damage in the different stages of MS. A study led by Dr. Nicola De Stefano showed that nerve damage in MS contributes to disability from the earliest stages of the disease. Another study found that, in active or new scars, the rate at which nerves' ability to transmit signals is impaired, is much higher than in old lesions. The results of this study also show transmission impairment is most common in areas of the CNS that are inflamed.

Some patients also may delay treatment because of fear of needles or because they do not think the symptoms of their MS are serious enough to warrant the use of medication. However, as we have seen, delaying treatment can allow the disease get worse faster.