Multiple sclerosis and pregnancy

Esclerosis múltiple y embarazo

Introduction: Multiple sclerosis is a neurodegenerative disease commonly affecting young adults of fertile age. Pregnancy has been a subject of controversy given that pharmacological management is required, there is a risk of relapses, and it may be disabling. Studies on the topic are scarce, although most of them report reliable data.
Objective: To provide the physician with adequate preconception and pregnancy care guidelines for this disease, as well as, adequate information about medications and their effects in the short and long-term, for the mother and the foetus.
Materials and methods: A search strategy was created for reviewing the literature, using the terms, pregnancy, multiple sclerosis, immunomodulatory therapies and teratogenic effects (MeSH and not MeSH), which were articulated with Boolean operators in the following databases: Pubmed, Ebscohost and Embase, filtering the results by review article.
Discussion: The protective effects of pregnancy on multiple sclerosis were evaluated, as well as, vitamin D administration.
Conclusion: Although there is not enough evidence on the harmful effects of treatment on the newborn, discontinuing the treatment is recommended.

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