It is not clear whether patients with demyelination have to take medication for life, as the causes are complex and include infection, autoimmunity, ischaemia, malnutrition, genetics and many other factors. If the cause is genetic, long-term medication may be required, but it does not necessarily need to be permanent and should be reasonably adjusted according to the patient’s recovery.
For most demyelination once it occurs, treatment needs to be carried out as soon as possible, often with hormones, immunosuppressive drugs and individual patients can be treated with immunoglobulin. After early and aggressive treatment, the prognosis is generally good and most patients do not require long-term medication.