Well, I signed onto the AAN Conference that presented this abstract, and the abstract itself (T-91, "What Is the Risk of Permanent Disability from an MS Attack?") reads rather differently then this article does. I'm not sure if I am allowed to post the abstract though, cause there suddenly seems to be strict copyright laws in place . . . but for now if anyone is really interested, they can sign onto the American Academy of Neurology site, and search for "risk of permanent disability" to find the actual abstract.

I know that the NMSS is also following up on this angle, through the University Research Center here in Vancouver:

"Helen Tremlett, PhD (University of British Columbia) is asking, “Do relapses affect disease progression in MS?” by evaluating the long-term relationship between MS attacks and disability in a large group of individuals with MS.

The majority of people with MS experience disabling relapses that can last weeks to months before a full or partial recovery occurs. However, the progression to permanent disability is not necessarily associated with a relapse. The team is focusing on patients enrolled in a database that holds data on 6000 people with MS in British Columbia, examining relapse rates in over 2500 people who have not taken disease-modifying drugs and have been followed for up to 23 years. They are investigating the effect of MS relapses occurring at different stages of the disease on disability progression, using measures such as the EDSS, a scale that measures disease activity.

This study may provide much-needed information on the progression of MS, and on how to tailor treatments for individuals with this disease."

http://www.nationalmssociety.org/res...ors/index.aspx

I guess what it comes down to is that at present they don't feel at all confident that relapses have anything to do with permanent disability. In other words, they feel that people with RRMS will likely accumulate disability even without relapses, and vice-versa.

Cherie