March 2, 2018 Social Clips by admin How a Service Dog Changed This MS Patient’s Life We’ve heard from many members of the MS community that service or therapy dogs can provide incredible comfort to patients and their families. From helping with mobility to reducing anxiety, these magical animals are sometimes exactly what the doctor ordered. Here, we talk to 45-year-old Karin, who’s been living with…
January 22, 2018 Social Clips by admin Fox News Meteorologist With MS Claps Back After Viewer Criticizes Her Legs It doesn’t take much to get criticized for your appearance – especially when you’re a public figure. Whether you’re in movies or on TV, being in the media seems to give viewers the idea that they can voice their opinion whenever they feel like it. Which is exactly what happened…
December 22, 2017 Social Clips by admin Multiple Sclerosis News Today: A Look Back at 2017 With the holiday season in full swing, it’s the perfect opportunity to take a look back at 2017. It’s been a year full of ups and downs, and while there were definitely quite a few low moments, there were certainly quite a few highs. To celebrate the year that was,…
October 9, 2017 Social Clips by admin How a Service Dog Changed This MS Patient’s Life We’ve heard from many members of the MS community that service or therapy dogs can provide incredible comfort to patients and their families. From helping with mobility to reducing anxiety, these magical animals are sometimes exactly what the doctor ordered. Here, we talk to 45-year-old Karin, who’s been living with…
September 27, 2017 News by admin RebiSmart Usage Among Young, Less Disabled MS Patients May Improve with More Knowledge, Study Suggests Relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients accurately report the use of the RebiSmart autoinjector to their neurologists, a questionnaire-based study has found. The Phase 4 noninterventional CORE study also suggests that being knowledgeable about RebiSmart is a key factor in improving usage in younger patients and those with lower disability levels.
August 14, 2017 Social Clips by admin 4 Ways Ocrevus Can Improve Your Life Ocrevus was approved by the FDA at the end of March but the buzz hasn’t died down.Though there is some trepidation, the MS community is incredibly excited about what the new “game-changing” medication can do for patients all across the country. Here are just a few ways that Ocrevus can…
July 10, 2017 Social Clips by admin These Lifestyle Hacks Will Help Anyone With a Chronic Illness If you have a chronic illness, you know just how much energy it takes to complete your daily chores and common household tasks. In this video from newlifeoutlook, Jennifer shares some practical tips to help make life a little easier for anyone suffering from a chronic illness. MORE: Nine ways…
July 6, 2017 News by admin Younger MS Patients Who Are Hospitalized May Be at Higher Risk of Quitting Treatment, Study Reports MS patients who start treatment at a younger age, and whose condition requires hospitalization, are more likely to stop treatment, a Canadian study reports. The research, published in the journal Dovepress, dealt with the main reasons Canadian patients quit first-line injected disease-modifying therapies, or DMTs. It was titled “Persistence to disease-modifying therapies for multiple sclerosis in a Canadian cohort.” DMTs can reduce MS activity, but patients must stick with them in order for them to be effective. “There is currently a paucity of clinical trial data on what happens to individuals when they discontinue DMT," the researchers wrote. "However, recent preliminary evidence from observational studies suggest increased relapses and disability in those who discontinue DMT." Researchers sought to identify MS patients at higher risk of discontinuing treatment. They looked at Manitoba Province's medical database to identify the types of drugs MS patients were taking, and for how long. The analysis covered 721 patients who received injected beta-interferons or Copaxone between 1996 and 2011, and whom doctors followed for at least a year. Teva manufactures Copaxone, whose generic name is glatiramer acetate. The mean age of the patients in the study was 37.6 years, and 74.2 percent were women. Researchers defined a discontinuation of a DMT as a 90-day or longer gap in treatment. A third of the patients were treated with beta-interferon-1b, either Bayer HealthCare's Betaferon/Betaseron or Novartis' Extavia. It was the first such therapy available in Manitoba. Twenty-three percent of patients received beta-interferon-1a, either Biogen's Avonex or Merck's Rebif. And 21 percent received Copaxone. The median time before a patient discontinued a DMT was 4.2 years. Although 62.6 percent of patients discontinued treatment at some point, 57.4 percent either reinitiated it or switched to a different DMT. Patients who were on DMT at least a year were more likely to stay with it than those who stopped in the first year. Importantly, patients who started a DMT at a younger age were more likely to stop taking it than older patients. “Our results are also consistent with previous work examining persistence for other chronic medication classes, including statins, antihypertensives, bisphosphonates, and oral antidiabetic agents, where the risk for discontinuing drugs declined in a linear fashion with age,” the researchers wrote. The team also found that 16 percent of patients had to be hospitalized overnight, with 3 percent of the cases due to MS-related complications. And these hospitalized patients were more likely to stop their DMT treatment earlier, the researchers said. Summing up, the team said: "Subjects who were younger when starting a DMT, had prior MS-related hospitalizations, were more recently diagnosed with MS, or had a greater lag time between their MS diagnosis and DMT initiation were more likely to discontinue therapy." Although "not all of the factors identified with discontinuing DMT" can be modified, "they may help practitioners enhance MS care by identifying individuals who may be at particular risk for DMT discontinuation," the researchers concluded.
June 27, 2017 News by admin Tysabri Shows Long-term Safety, Efficacy in Japanese RRMS Patients, Study Shows A recent study has found Tysabri (natalizumab) treatment for two years to be efficient and safe in Japanese patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). The study, “Safety and Efficacy of Natalizumab in Japanese Patients with Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis: Open-Label Extension Study of a Phase 2 Trial,” appeared in the journal…
June 20, 2017 Social Clips by admin How a Service Dog Changed This MS Patient’s Life We’ve heard from many members of the MS community that service or therapy dogs can provide incredible comfort to patients and their families. From helping with mobility to reducing anxiety, these magical animals are sometimes exactly what the doctor ordered. Here, we talk to 45-year-old Karin, who’s been living with…
June 19, 2017 Social Clips by admin How to Live Your Best Life With a Chronic Illness If you’re living with a chronic illness, it’s easy to slip into a malaise and feel sorry for yourself. This isn’t a helpful state of mind and it potentially means you’re missing out on life. In this video from NewLifeOutlook, Anna Scanlon shares her five…
May 30, 2017 Social Clips by admin 4 Things to Consider Before Getting a Service Dog Having a service dog can greatly enhance the life of someone living with a chronic disease. They allow patients to regain some of their independence by helping with small everyday tasks like opening and closing doors, fetching meds, acting as a prop or support as their owner stands, switching on lights and attracting attention…
April 24, 2017 Social Clips by admin What the World Is Saying About Ocrevus It’s been four weeks since the FDA approved the new MS drug Ocrevus (ocrelizumab). From patients to doctors to researchers, here’s what the world is saying about the approval—and what it means for the future treatment of PPMS and RRMS. “I’m very happy I went on ocrelizumab. I love that I…
April 18, 2017 Social Clips by admin 4 Ways Ocrevus Can Improve Your Life It’s been less than a month since Ocrevus was approved by the FDA, and the buzz hasn’t died down. Though there is some trepidation, the MS community is incredibly excited about what the new “game-changing” medication can do for patients all across the country. Here are just a few…
April 10, 2017 Columns by admin Pick of the Week’s News: Progression, Antibiotics, Ocrevus, Stem Cells, B-Cells Here’s my Pick of the Week’s News, as published by Multiple Sclerosis News Today. Canada, World’s Multiple Sclerosis Capital, Launches 3-Way Collaboration to Research MS Progression Why some people develop primary progressive MS and others have the relapsing type, and why a many relapsing patients develop secondary…
April 6, 2017 Columns by admin ‘Fabulous’ Ocrevus Lights the Way to a Brighter, Hopeful Future, MS Nurse Says Ocrevus is a “fabulous” drug that does wonders for those who respond to it. That’s the view of an MS nurse practitioner in Florida, with whom I spoke this week. Tricia Pagnotta works at the Multiple Sclerosis…
April 3, 2017 Columns by admin MS Patient’s Pick of the Week’s News: Ocrevus and Its Approval, Reactions, Development, Dispensing, Other Countries Today, my Pick of the Week’s News is devoted to various news stories, all published by Multiple Sclerosis News Today, about FDA approval of Genentech’s Ocrevus as an MS treatment. FDA Approves Ocrevus as 1st MS Treatment for Both Relapsing and Primary Progressive Forms Last week’s approval of Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) by…
March 30, 2017 Columns by admin Dan Says Treasure Your Caregiving Hero Caregivers are in the spotlight during MS Awareness Month and, as it draws to a close, one man with multiple sclerosis is calling for everyone with the disease to recognize them. Dan Melfi, who lives in the…
March 29, 2017 News by admin Multiple Sclerosis in Mother Increases Chance of Children Having ADHD, Study Suggests Mothers with chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, have a higher risk of having children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to a Norwegian study. The findings were reported in a study titled “Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Offspring of Mothers With Inflammatory and Immune System Diseases”…
March 27, 2017 Columns by admin MS Patient’s Pick of the Week’s News: Clinical Trials, Rebif, Swallowing, Euthanasia, Patent Here’s my Pick of the Week’s News, as published in Multiple Sclerosis News Today. National MS Society-Sponsored Group Creates Tool Set to Measure Outcomes in MS Clinical Trials Speeding up clinical trials should have the knock-on effect of shortening the whole process of developing and approving new…
March 23, 2017 Columns by admin Benign MS: Is It Real or a Myth? What is benign MS? Does it even exist? Certainly it is not one of the types of the disease often listed as making up the multiple sclerosis family. It is a term that is surrounded by controversy,…
March 20, 2017 Columns by admin MS Patient’s Pick of the Week’s News: Ocrevus, Myelin, Telemedicine, Gala and Axon Here is my Pick of the Week’s News, as published by Multiple Sclerosis News Today. Ocrevus and the hope of ‘ending MS forever’: Interview with MS Society’s Tim Coetzee Ocrevus possibly being one of the most significant advances in MS treatment, especially for people with PPMS, the…
March 16, 2017 Columns by admin After Long Wait, Zinbryta Gains Approval in Areas of the UK News that daclizumab, brand name Zinbryta, has been given the go-ahead to be available through the U.K.’s National Health Service (NHS) for treating relapsing MS, at least in part of the country, is good news. But why has the decision taken…
March 14, 2017 Columns by admin There’s Nothing Ordinary About New Novel Featuring Woman With MS Allison Wheeler is an unconventional heroine of a novel, but she found her way into my heart as I read A Million Ordinary Days by Judy Mollen Walters, a book being published today, March 14. Author Judy is also a BioNews Services columnist. She has Crohn’s disease and, writing…
March 13, 2017 Columns by admin Columnist’s Novel About MS Recalls Her Memories of Grandmother Editor’s note: Our IBD columnist, Judy Walters, will have a new book out Tuesday in which the central character has multiple sclerosis. Here, she remembers how MS affected her own family during her childhood. I was only 10 when my grandmother died, but I remember so much about her. I remember…
March 13, 2017 by admin MS Patient’s Pick of the Week’s News: Useless Liberation Therapy, Immune System, After Obamacare, Aging with SPMS, IsolateMS Here is my Pick of the Week’s News, as published in Multiple Sclerosis News Today. ‘Liberation Therapy’ Is Useless, Costly, Potentially Dangerous, Study Finds At last, some positive research to debunk a supposed treatment that is not supported by any genuine repeatable research. To hear this ridiculous…
March 9, 2017 Columns by admin Let’s Compare MS Symptoms, and How We’re Handling Them We all know, because we have heard it so many times, that MS is not the same for everyone — that no two people have exactly the same combination of symptoms. That got me…
March 6, 2017 Columns by admin MS Patient’s Pick of the Week’s News: #MySupportHero, Awareness Video, Mind and Mobility, Seizures, Acthar Gel Here’s my Pick of the Week’s News, as published in Multiple Sclerosis News Today. MS Organizations Join #MySupportHero Initiative to Help Patients Salute Those Who Care Oh, I can see me fitting in well here. To see what I mean, just take a look at two previous…
March 2, 2017 Columns by admin Ocrevus: Counting Down to Expected FDA Approval There is now less than a month until the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to approve Ocrevus, generic name ocrelizumab, for use as a therapy for multiple sclerosis. Clinical trials have shown Genentech’s drug to be a promising therapy for relapsing MS and, significantly,…
February 27, 2017 Columns by admin #ACTRIMS2017 – MS Patient’s Pick of the Week’s News The ACTRIMS 2017 Forum is the source of my Pick of the Week’s News as published in Multiple Sclerosis News Today. There is Increased Evidence Linking Viruses to MS Risk This evidence goes some way toward justifying my view, previously published, about connections between viruses and MS. In particular,…