(Press-News.org) Menopause linked to distinct differences in multiple sclerosis presentation and comorbidities, new study shows
(Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, 25 September 2025) New research presented today at the 41st Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS 2025) reveals that menopause may significantly influence how multiple sclerosis (MS) first presents in women, as well as the types of associated health conditions they experience.1 These novel findings could pave the way for more targeted, personalised treatment strategies for women tailored to their life stage.
While female sex is known to affect MS progression, the impact of menopause on initial symptom patterns remains largely underexplored. To investigate this, Yasemin Şimşek and her team analysed data from 864 MS patients, drawn from a larger cohort of 4,191 individuals, including 298 premenopausal women, 300 postmenopausal women, and 265 age-matched men.
The analysis revealed distinct differences in where MS symptoms first appeared. The optic nerve was more frequently the site of initial symptoms in premenopausal women (21.8%) compared to postmenopausal women (15%) and men (11.7%). In contrast, the spinal cord was the first site affected in 44% of postmenopausal women and 48.3% of men, compared with 27.5% of premenopausal women.
“These differences likely reflect the biological effects of hormonal changes,” explained lead author Şimşek. “Hormonal status, immune system modulation and neuroprotective mechanisms likely influence how lesions develop and where symptoms first appear. Younger premenopausal women may have more robust inflammatory responses, leading to certain symptom patterns, whereas older individuals, both men and postmenopausal women, may experience more insidious and progressive symptom onset due to neurodegenerative processes.”
The analysis also demonstrated striking differences in comorbidity burden. Only 15.1% of premenopausal women had comorbid conditions, compared with 41% of postmenopausal women and 36.6% of men. Among postmenopausal women, cardiovascular disease (including hypertension, arrhythmia, and coronary artery disease) was the most frequent comorbidity, affecting 24.7%. Endocrine and metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes, hypothyroidism and dyslipidaemia were also frequent in postmenopausal women, seen in 10.3%. In contrast, psychiatric comorbidities such as depression and anxiety were more common in premenopausal women than in postmenopausal women.
Overall, men had a comorbidity profile resembling that of postmenopausal women, particularly with respect to cardiovascular risk.
“The lower prevalence of cardiovascular and metabolic disorders in premenopausal women can be partly attributed to the protective effects of oestrogen and younger biological age,” Şimşek noted. “Meanwhile, psychiatric comorbidities may be more frequent in this group due to higher psychosocial stress, earlier disease onset and possible hormonal influences on mood regulation.”
Mortality patterns further underlined these differences. During the study period, deaths occurred in 15 men and 9 postmenopausal women, while no deaths were reported among premenopausal women.
“These findings have important implications for clinical care,” Şimşek said. “Men and postmenopausal women may benefit from strategies targeting neurodegeneration and disability prevention, whereas premenopausal women may require closer monitoring of relapse activity and optimisation of disease-modifying therapies.”
ENDS
About ECTRIMS 2025:
ECTRIMS 2025 – held on 24-26 September at the CCIB Barcelona International Convention Center in Barcelona, Spain – is the premier meeting place for researchers, clinicians and healthcare providers to collaborate on life-changing research and treatment options for people with MS and related diseases. This year’s programme offers top-tier scientific sessions, education, networking, and more.
Discover more: https://ectrims.eu/ectrims2025
About the study author:
Yasemin Şimşek is a dedicated nurse and the Coordinator of the Center for Treatment and Research of Neuroimmunological Disorders at İzmir University of Economics – Medical Point Hospital. In this capacity, she coordinates patient care services, manages clinical workflows, and supports research protocols that aim to improve outcomes for individuals with multiple sclerosis and related neuroimmunological disorders.
As an active member of the Multiple Sclerosis Research Association, she contributes to national and international projects, playing a pivotal role in bridging clinical practice with academic research. She is also a key member of the multidisciplinary working group led by Prof. Dr. Serkan Özakbaş, where she ensures the effective coordination of neuroimmunological applications, patient follow-up, and collaborative studies among physicians, researchers, and healthcare staff.
Her professional expertise is complemented by a strong commitment to patient-centered care, continuous professional development, and advancing nursing practices in neurology. Beyond her career, she balances her responsibilities with family life as a mother of two.
References:
Şimşek SY. Impact of Menopause on Initial Clinical Presentation and Comorbidities in Women with Multiple Sclerosis: A Comparative Study with Age-Matched Men. Presented at ECTRIMS 2025, Barcelona, Spain. END
Ultra-processed foods linked to heightened disease activity in early multiple sclerosis, new study finds
(Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, 25 September 2025) Higher intake of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) may exacerbate disease activity in early multiple sclerosis (MS), according to new research presented at the 41st Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS 2025).1
Researchers found that increased UPF consumption was linked to more frequent relapses and greater MRI-detected lesion activity, highlighting the potential role of diet as a complementary strategy in disease management.
The study, led by Dr Gloria Dalla Costa, analysed ...
In six massive laboratory freezers at the University of Utah, nearly 40,000 blood samples wait in frozen stasis.
They represent four years of data from one of the largest studies of hypertension in the U.S.: an intensive blood pressure intervention study called the SPRINT trial. And hidden in many of these blood samples are subtle chemical signals that point to their donors’ current and future brain health conditions—among them Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, the most common cause of disability among adults over 65.
Now, powered by a $25.7M, five-year National Institutes of Health ...
ITHACA, N.Y. — In a potentially threatening situation, the world looks more dangerous when caring for a baby, finds first-of-its-kind Cornell University psychology research using virtual environments to explore parenting dynamics.
When playing an online game that placed an adult on the side of a road after running out of gas, both parents and nonparents were quicker to detect oncoming traffic—and rated cars as moving faster—when they had to keep a virtual baby out of harm’s way. Reactions were quicker ...
Manufacturers of infrared cameras face a growing problem: the toxic heavy metals in today's infrared detectors are increasingly banned under environmental regulations, forcing companies to choose between performance and compliance.
This regulatory pressure is slowing the broader adoption of infrared detectors across civilian applications, just as demand in fields like autonomous vehicles, medical imaging and national security is accelerating.
In a paper published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, researchers at NYU Tandon School ...
NAU researchers are experimenting with new technology that could help medical providers easily detect Alzheimer’s disease early and prevent its advance.
Led by Travis Gibbons, an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, and fueled in part by a grant from the Arizona Alzheimer’s Association, the research project centers on the brain’s metabolism—specifically, how it uses glucose, the sugar that fuels our thoughts, movements and emotions.
“The brain is like a muscle,” ...
Dog owners are often associated with personality traits of being social and community-oriented while "cat people" are often thought of as introverted and more open-minded, according to prior research.
But if you're about to raise money for a charity from people with pets, you may want to think about the strategy.
A new Dartmouth study finds that cat owners donate slightly more than dog owners, and also donate more often and more diversely. However, people without pets donate the most.
The findings are published in the journal Anthrozoӧs.
To examine philanthropic ...
In a world-first, researchers from the Femtosecond Spectroscopy Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) have directly observed the evolution of the elusive dark excitons in atomically thin materials, laying the foundation for new breakthroughs in both classical and quantum information technologies. Their findings have been published in Nature Communications. Professor Keshav Dani, head of the unit, highlights the significance: "Dark excitons have great potential as information carriers, because they are inherently less likely to interact with light, and hence less prone to degradation of their quantum properties. ...
Art isn’t just for stages and studios. It can be a powerful public health resource.
That’s the takeaway from a new international study, commissioned by the Jameel Arts and Health Lab, which examined nearly 100 research projects from 27 countries to consider how arts programs, such as music, dance, theater, storytelling and other creative and cultural activities, can help prevent some of the world’s biggest killers: heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and other non-communicable diseases, which account ...
MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (09/24/2025) — New research from the University of Minnesota Medical School confirms that testing for congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) at birth using the routinely collected dried blood spot (DBS) is a reliable and effective method to identify newborns at risk for long-term developmental challenges. The findings were recently published in JAMA Network Open.
Congenital CMV is a virus passed to infants in the womb and occurs in about 1 in 200 infants. About 20% of babies with cCMV infection have birth defects or other long-term health problems.
The findings demonstrate that the PCR-based test performed on dried blood ...
When a woman becomes pregnant, the outcome of that pregnancy depends on many things — including a crucial event that happened while she was still growing inside her own mother’s womb. It depends on the quality of the egg cells that were already forming inside her fetal ovaries. The DNA-containing chromosomes in those cells must be cut, spliced and sorted perfectly. In males, the same process produces sperm in the testes but occurs only after puberty.
“If that goes wrong, then you end up with the wrong number of chromosomes in the eggs or sperm,” said Neil Hunter, a professor in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at the University of ...
