In the study, nearly 25 percent of patients with abnormal brain scans developed MS within two years compared to only 5 percent of those with normal brain scans. Moreover, participants with abnormal brain scans benefitted most from the intravenous corticosteroids. Thirty-six percent of patients in the placebo group who had two or more brain lesions developed MS within two years compared to 16 percent of those in the intravenous group. Since the eye provides nearly 40 percent of our sensory input to the brain, it provides an excellent opportunity to study many of the disorders that affect the brain. Optic neuritis affects more than 25,000 Americans each year, primarily women between the ages of 18 and 45.
Optic neuritis causes pain and a rapid, often extreme, loss of vision.
ONTT scientists reported previously that even without treatment, patients generally recover their vision after the first episode of the disease. Patients treated with intravenous corticosteroids recovered their vision about two weeks sooner than those receiving a placebo, but this treatment provided them with no long-term visual benefit. The researchers also found that oral corticosteroids alone are ineffective in treating optic neuritis, and that treatment with these drugs can actually increase a person's risk for future attacks of optic neuritis. The National Eye Institute, a part of National Institutes of Health, is the Federal government's lead agency for the conduct and support of research on the human visual system in health and disease.