Larner College of Medicine News & Media

Solomon Comments to Medscape on Differential MS Diagnosis for Minorities

March 1, 2023 by Lucy Gardner Carson

(MARCH 1, 2023) Commenting to Medscape for an article on differential multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis for minorities, Andrew Solomon, M.D., professor of neurological sciences and chief of the Division of Multiple Sclerosis, said that for years, the “prevailing thought” was that MS was less common in underrepresented populations.

Andrew Solomon, M.D., professor of neurological sciences and chief of the Division of Multiple Sclerosis

(MARCH 1, 2023) Commenting to Medscape for an article on differential multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis for minorities, Andrew Solomon, M.D., professor of neurological sciences and chief of the Division of Multiple Sclerosis, said that for years, the “prevailing thought” was that MS was less common in underrepresented populations.

“We thought alternative diagnoses that could mimic MS were more common,” he said. Recent data show that the incidence of MS may not vary by race or ethnicity “as much as we thought,” said Solomon. “The risk of MS in Black patients in the U.S. may be similar to that of white patients.”

Lack of awareness among providers about these emerging data may mean unnecessary diagnostic delays for underrepresented patients, he cautioned.

Read full story at Medscape