Today the research team met with Dr. Anthony Traboulsee here at ECTRIMS to talk about brain health. Dr. Traboulsee is an Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia, Director of the MS and NMO Clinic at University of British Columbia Hospital, and MS Society of Canada operating grant recipient. We asked Dr. Traboulsee to provide a Canadian perspective on a newly published report from MS Brain Health, titled “Brain Health: Why time matters in multiple sclerosis”.
The report is an evidence-based international consensus that provides guidelines for early intervention, frequent monitoring, and timely access to the appropriate treatments, all in the context of maximizing brain health and pursuing a long term healthy lifestyle.
Dr. Traboulsee emphasized the idea that “time matters”; in other words, making sure that treatment is available to people living with MS as early as possible, and that decisions around what treatment are best for a person living with MS should be made in a collaborative, open-dialogue way between clinicians and patients. He stressed that adopting a healthy lifestyle plays an enormous role in maximizing brain health alongside medications, particularly exercising both the body and the mind and avoiding risk factors for MS.
To see some of the highlights from our conversation, watch the video below.