How Hormones Can Affect MS Symptoms in Women
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Higher levels of sex hormones, such as estrogens, progesterones, and steroid hormones in general can actually have an anti-inflammatory effect. However, these hormones do fluctuate throughout a woman's lifetime and can lead to significant variations in symptoms as a woman progresses through pregnancy and menopause.
We generally recommend that women are off of medication or disease modifying therapies for at least one year prior to their pregnancy and have stable disease without relapses during that time period. Ideally, if a woman does get pregnant while she's on her multiple sclerosis medications, we don't recommend abruptly stopping the medication. However, we do recommend speaking with your neurologist or maternal fetal medicine specialist to discuss the fetal risks of the medication, as well as the potential maternal benefits of continuing the medication throughout the pregnancy.
So during menopause we see a drop in hormones, such as estrogen and progesterone. It's a little bit difficult to determine if this is secondary to the aging process or secondary to this drop in hormones. However, we do see that women who are on hormone replacement therapy have less symptoms than those who are not.
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MARISSA PLANTNER
So we know that multiple sclerosis can affect women at a ratio of 2:3 per one as opposed to men. We know that women are much more likely to develop symptoms earlier on in life. They are more likely to have inflammatory lesions on MRI. And they are more likely to have frequent relapses. Higher levels of sex hormones, such as estrogens, progesterones, and steroid hormones in general can actually have an anti-inflammatory effect. However, these hormones do fluctuate throughout a woman's lifetime and can lead to significant variations in symptoms as a woman progresses through pregnancy and menopause.
We generally recommend that women are off of medication or disease modifying therapies for at least one year prior to their pregnancy and have stable disease without relapses during that time period. Ideally, if a woman does get pregnant while she's on her multiple sclerosis medications, we don't recommend abruptly stopping the medication. However, we do recommend speaking with your neurologist or maternal fetal medicine specialist to discuss the fetal risks of the medication, as well as the potential maternal benefits of continuing the medication throughout the pregnancy.
So during menopause we see a drop in hormones, such as estrogen and progesterone. It's a little bit difficult to determine if this is secondary to the aging process or secondary to this drop in hormones. However, we do see that women who are on hormone replacement therapy have less symptoms than those who are not.
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