August 31, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister With multiple sclerosis, hindsight is accurate āĀ and often unkind “Being diagnosed later in life is like watching a TV show with a huge plot twist revealed at the end of the season and then rewatching it with this new knowledge, picking up on all the foreshadowing and getting upset that you didn’t see all of it before.” ā…
August 28, 2023 Columns by Ed Tobias MS news notes: Spasticity, early treatment, pediatric onset Welcome to āMS News Notes,ā a column where I comment on multiple sclerosis (MS) news stories that caught my eye last week. Hereās a look at whatās been happening: Can noninvasive brain stimulation reduce MS spasticity? For a long time, I’ve had to deal with spasticity, a common…
August 25, 2023 Columns by John Connor The itch that turned into an outbreak of yet another comorbidity It’s a new week, so itās time for a new comorbidity. Not content with affecting my brain, spine, and bodily functions, secondary progressive multiple sclerosis is now making my body break down at a cellular level. Make something funny out of that, Connor. Toughie, this one. Maybe later ā…
August 25, 2023 Columns by Ed Tobias My scooter, my grandkids, and a cave: What could go wrong? My wife, Laura, thought it would be fun to take our grandkids, ages 7 and 9, to spend a few hours exploring a giant cave. I wasn’t so sure. Ten minutes into the excursion, I was wondering which one of the adults would be hauled out in an ambulance. This…
August 24, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister Living with MS can often feel like being lost in the woods Years before joining the Army crossed my mind, I was a Boy Scout. We learned all sorts of skills, earned merit badges, and, of course, spent lots of time hiking and camping. I have many fond memories of those scouting years, but one lesson I remember in particular was…
August 21, 2023 Columns by Ed Tobias MS news notes: Measuring the cost of MS, early treatment, Pilates Welcome to āMS News Notes,ā a column where I comment on multiple sclerosis (MS) news stories that caught my eye last week. Hereās a look at whatās been happening: MS is costly to patients and society People with MS understand how costly the disease can be in terms of…
August 18, 2023 Columns by John Connor Oh, how far we’ve come since the ‘Victorian Era’ of treating MS In 2010, I strolled into a new hospital to meet my new neurologist. In them there far-off days, I was indeed strolling ā nay, striding ā but it wouldn’t last. I was surrounded by an aura of self-confidence that anyone whoās survived the vicissitudes of nearly three decades of show…
August 18, 2023 Columns by Ed Tobias A topical reminder to prepare for a disaster while living with MS By now, I’m sure you’ve seen the pictures of the wildfires that charred Maui, Hawaii. As I write this, a week after the blaze, The Associated Press reports that more than 100 people have been killed, and the governor expects “scores more.” Some neighborhoods are gone. People literally…
August 17, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister Parachuting my way through this life with MS Ten minutes away from the drop zone, we stood up and began the final preparations for the jump. The aircraft flew in anything but a straight line as it turned, banked, and swiftly changed altitude. This unpredictable flying technique was tactically sound, as it made the plane difficult to target,…
August 14, 2023 Columns by Ed Tobias MS news notes: Biomarkers, cow’s milk, EBV vaccine Welcome to āMS News Notes,ā a column where I comment on multiple sclerosis (MS) news stories that caught my eye last week. Hereās a look at whatās been happening: Is it MS or something else? Should all autoimmune diseases that damage myelin be called MS? Probably not, according…
August 11, 2023 Columns by John Connor What I should’ve been told about clinically isolated syndrome and MS In 2007, at age 47, I had my first-ever consultation with a neurologist. It was during my longest-ever hospital stay, as of then ā a whopping eight days. It amazed me that some of my fellow patients in the ward managed to gather themselves and struggle outside for a ciggy,…
August 11, 2023 Columns by Ed Tobias Who says MS doesn’t hurt? Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a pain in my butt ā and other places, too. It hasn’t always been that way. For many years post-diagnosis, I didn’t notice much pain. But of the 43 years I’ve lived with MS, it’s hurt for the past 15. Usually, it’s just…
August 10, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister Multiple sclerosis makes it tough to deal with the heat of the dog days I like to look up. No, I’m not referring to my disposition, although I do consider it to be an improvement over what it once was. I’m actually pretty sunny, if you happen to think of “sunny” as burning, harsh, and damaging when you’re exposed to it. What I…
August 7, 2023 Columns by Ed Tobias MS news notes: DMT survey, keto diet, Gilenya generic Welcome to āMS News Notes,ā a column where I comment on multiple sclerosis (MS) news stories that caught my eye last week. Hereās a look at whatās been happening: Neurologists comment on DMTs available for RRMS There are 20 disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) available to treat MS in the…
August 4, 2023 Columns by John Connor MS comorbidities make me a stranger in a strange body I was never a hypochondriac until multiple sclerosis (MS) whacked me. A catastrophic fall while playing tennis in 2007 resulted in a shoulder separation that took two operations to fix. The pain was so bad that, at the time, MS was just something else I had. To be accurate,…
August 4, 2023 Columns by Ed Tobias In August, I’m celebrating a big birthday and an MS anniversary “Will you still need me, will you still feed me/ when I’m 64?” Could Paul McCartney have imagined what life would be like at 64 when he wrote that iconic lyric as a teenager, or when the Beatles recorded it in their early 20s? I never could’ve imagined…
August 3, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister As my kids head back to school, I must prepare for inevitable illnesses This morning, at an unholy hour, our family awoke to the sound of alarm bells. Well, not bells, but rather the gentle yet insistent sound of one of Alexa’s alarms. Actually, we changed the name of our bedroom device to Ziggy, so we can’t simply roll over, still…
July 31, 2023 Columns by Ed Tobias MS news notes: AI and MS diagnosis, gut bacteria, DMTs Welcome to āMS News Notes,ā a column where I comment on multiple sclerosis (MS) news stories that caught my eye last week. Hereās a look at whatās been happening: Could MS be predicted by an artificial intelligence tool? Wouldn’t it be great if there was a way to predict…
July 28, 2023 Columns by John Connor What started as a simple problem turned into a complex kerfuffle Long ago, I acquired a pair of speakers for my laptop. In fact, theyāve survived many, many iterations of the things. Laptops become outdated quickly, their inbuilt fans fail, or, as in my latest version, the installed RAM is only 8 gigabytes. I’ve been made aware that RAM, or random-access…
July 28, 2023 Columns by Ed Tobias I’m trying Factor meal service in an attempt to eat healthier My wife hates to cook, except for a big Thanksgiving turkey. I don’t know how to cook, except for scrambled eggs or meat on a grill. So for many years, our meals have pretty much been restaurant (eat-in or carry-out), ready-to-heat from the grocery store, frozen (lasagna or pizza), and,…
July 27, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister Why it’s strangely comforting that MS doctors don’t know everything I’m not a doctor, just a patient. And depending on whom you ask, I’m not a very good one, either ā unless you happen to be fond of lots of questions. I was a medic in the U.S. Army ā a time buyer, as I refer to it…
July 24, 2023 Columns by Ed Tobias MS news notes: DMT use in older people, spinal MRIs, and more Welcome to āMS News Notes,ā a column where I comment on multiple sclerosis (MS) news stories that caught my eye last week. Hereās a look at whatās been happening: Are DMTs useful and safe for older MS patients? The MS News Today story “Can elderly MS patients…
July 21, 2023 Columns by John Connor Reflections from the front line, take 2: If only all hospitals were like this As last week’s column ended, Iād just negotiated with my ambulance driver and paramedics to take me to any London hospital other than the one where Iād spent the Christmas months. They offered me St Georgeās Hospital, which I knew to be the major trauma center ’round these…
July 21, 2023 Columns by Ed Tobias Why pills became the most popular first DMTs for MS Note: This column describes the authorās own experiences with several disease-modifying therapies for multiple sclerosis. Not everyone will have the same response to treatment. Consult your doctor before starting or stopping a therapy. Times, they’ve been a-changing for disease-modifying therapies (DMTs). When I was diagnosed with multiple…
July 20, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister In life with multiple sclerosis, self-care is anything but selfish About three years before my multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis and subsequent retirement, I found myself in Iraq preparing for a mission. I was going out with a different team from another branch of the U.S. military, and the planning and briefing process wasn’t as detailed as I was…
July 18, 2023 Columns by Ed Tobias MS news notes: 10-minute Ocrevus injection, NfL blood test, optic nerve Editor’s note: “MS News Notes” will return to its regular Monday morning schedule next week. Welcome to āMS News Notes,ā a column where I comment on multiple sclerosis (MS) news stories that caught my eye last week. Hereās a look at whatās been happening: A 10-minute injection of…
July 14, 2023 Columns by John Connor Reflections from the front line, take 2: Back into the fray There was no column from me last week, and here follows the reason why: “In the wee small hours,” as Frank Sinatra so eloquently crooned, I, too, was abruptly awake. Only I hadnāt drunk my way there. Instead, my wee was indeed a real one, though painfully…
July 14, 2023 Columns by Ed Tobias Bottoms up: Why I’m drinking more water because of my MS I’m drinking again, more than I have in years. It’s not the hard stuff, though; not even beer or wine. It’s just plain water. That may sound crazy for someone like me who has bladder problems due to multiple sclerosis (MS). For many of us with MS, we…
July 13, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister Multiple sclerosis has made my once-dominant hand less so I am not left-handed! No, I’m not channeling Westley or Inigo from “The Princess Bride,” just clarifying a common ā and fair ā assumption. While I now do nearly everything left-handed, including eating, drinking, and even typing this column, my right hand was dominant for most of…
July 10, 2023 Columns by Ed Tobias MS news notes: New gadolinium agent, myelin, high-efficacy DMTs Welcome to āMS News Notes,ā a Monday morning column where I comment on multiple sclerosis (MS) news stories that caught my eye last week. Hereās a look at whatās been happening: Testing a new MRI contrast agent One concern that some people with MS have when getting an MRI…