Cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis: a forgotten disability remembered.

Abstract

Physicians first noted the presence of cognitive impairment in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) more than 160 years ago, yet it took clinicians until 2001 to codify a standard test to measure cognitive function. We now know that cognitive impairment occurs in up to 65 percent of people with MS and usually lessens their ability to remember previously learned information. So far, trials of drugs formulated to treat cognitive impairment have failed, but the authors remain optimistic that new approaches to diagnosis and drug development could lead to effective therapies in the future.