Columns

Have you ever heard of the word “polypharmacy”? I saw the word for the first time today. It’s generally defined as taking many medications together. There’s been debate over how many is “many,” but a number generally used is five or more. That describes me. I take…

Research finds that a deficiency of B vitamins may play a role in multiple sclerosis (MS) symptoms. On the other hand, supplementation of the vitamins may help. There are eight essential B vitamins: B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9, and B12. The large variety can be confusing when…

All of the stories in this week’s column come from the recently held Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS) forum, held Feb. 28 to March 2 in Dallas, Texas. #ACTRIMS2019 – Forum Leaders Discuss: ‘Will There Be a Cure for MS?’ A reporter for…

Playing Billy Beane in “Moneyball,” Brad Pitt utters the now famous line, “Adapt or die.” (Warning: The scene linked here has a few naughty words in it.) He’s referencing the use of statistics to create a better baseball team, but I think the saying is true to most…

In the earlier days of my MS, I could still walk a bit. It was not enough to risk the maze of an airport, so I traveled sensibly in a wheelchair and preregistered as a disabled passenger. My then-teenage son reduced the boredom by placing me facing into suitable…

A recent article in The New York Times hit the nail on the head when it comes to describing the world we live in with MS. But the article isn’t about MS. The Times‘ Tessa Miller writes about Crohn’s disease, a type of inflammatory bowel disorder. Like MS, Crohn’s…

Editor’s note: “Need to Know” is a series inspired by common forum questions and comments from readers. Have a comment or question about MS? Visit our forum. This week’s question is inspired by the forum topic “Study Shows Low-dose Botox Therapy Improves Urinary Symptoms in People with…

If a cat has nine lives then I have at least twice as many. One day shy of my 50th birthday, my mind runs a vivid montage of years past. I close my eyes and I am there. I feel a heavy melancholy as the movie rolls. I see…

  Several summers ago I had the misfortune of experiencing the simultaneous agony of kidney stones and gallstones. The level of pain was greater than I’d had with childbirth. It brought me to my knees and took two hospitals, one misdiagnosis, and two surgeries to get…

I received an email recently from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in the U.S. promoting a searchable database of “credible doctors and resources.” A few days later, I happened to run across another online multiple sclerosis (MS) information service hosted by the HealthCare Journey website. They call it…

My memory is spotty at times. I utter phrases like, “What was I looking for?” more often than I care to admit. I attribute my memory lapses to my multiple sclerosis (MS) brain lesions. But is my assumption accurate? What if it is age-related or…

FDA Will Review New Drug Application of Diroximel Fumarate for Relapsing Forms of MS The good news: Another disease-modifying therapy (DMT) has taken a step toward approval in the U.S. The discouraging news: It’s another DMT designed to treat relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis. More than a…

I can’t quite remember when I got hooked on the writings of Jack London, but I don’t think I’ve ever quite shaken off his Nietzschean-inspired “Superman” ethos. It comes in handy for surviving in the wilds of the winter in the Yukon and forcing yourself to build a…

Over the past few months, I’ve had a few things to say about actress Selma Blair and the very public way in which she’s been handling her MS diagnosis. When Blair went public with her MS last October, she did it on Instagram, writing, “I am…

Editor’s note: “Need to Know” is a series inspired by common forum questions and comments from readers. Have a comment or question about MS? Visit our forum. This week’s question is inspired by the forum topic “How Do You Manage MS-Related Balance Issues?” from…

I had a busy weekend. I made it to an event I had so wanted to attend and survived it. Our golden retriever rescue had a volunteer mixer, and both Abby and I enjoyed ourselves. Once home, Abby sacked out and I began nursing the inevitable pain. The…

In the research world, references to breaking down silos abound, and we’re not talking about those found on the farm. These figurative silos are where information is contained and not shared outside of a particular area. Researchers work within their own organization, rarely sharing their work with others doing…

Plasma is the fluid part of our blood that carries nutrients and blood cells through our bodies. Donated plasma can save the lives of burn and injury victims and it’s used as a treatment for hemophilia and other autoimmune diseases. Recently, some treatment centers in the United States…

I often swat at my arms and legs because I feel a sensation akin to an insect crawling on my body. Sometimes I have a feeling of wetness on my skin as if I’ve been splashed with water, but when I touch the area, there is nothing there. My…

Early Use of High-efficacy DMTs of Long-term Benefit to MS Patients, Real-world Study Reports The question of whether to start treating multiple sclerosis (MS) with an older, less effective disease-modifying therapy (DMT) and then move to a more effective one — or use a heavy-hitting medication right…

An awesome friend of mine at work who is learning to master Spanish as a second language has been using a podcast called “News in Slow Spanish” to increase fluency in conversation and learn cultural nuances. (And this isn’t the first amazing thing she’s done. Homegirl can run…

Relapses can be sneaky. They can scythe you down. I’ve been dealing with multiple sclerosis (MS) since 2006 and I only consciously remember two relapses. The first relapse was two years after I had been diagnosed with sclerosis. There was the possible hope from my first neurologist that nothing…

My wife and I joined our son and his family on a tour of a Southwest Florida nature preserve today. It required riding on an old school bus-swamp buggy for a little over an hour and a half. There were plenty of gators, wild hogs, egrets, and storks in…

Editor’s note: “Need to Know” is a series inspired by common forum questions and comments from readers. Have a comment or question about MS? Visit our forum. This week’s question is inspired by the forum topic “New MS Therapy Company to Focus on Rejuvenating Coating…

I am in a funk. It took a lot of mental volleying to admit this. I am preconditioned to synonymize feeling down with weakness. This is simply untrue. I am strong. But I am also having a difficult time managing my disease. Both can be true. In my transparency, I…

  A former colleague recently asked me, “How are you doing in your battle with MS?” It was a legitimate question, not one of those throwaway lines of mock concern that we often hear. We were discussing the death of a former colleague who had been diagnosed with MS in…

Sometimes I feel that some in the multiple sclerosis (MS) community do not show kindness to each other. Perhaps they can’t relate to others’ MS realities because their symptoms are dissimilar or they have a different disease type. I have witnessed interactions between people with MS in which one…

Almost 1 in 5 People Wrongly Diagnosed with MS at Two Specialized Centers in US, Study Finds We know that MS is a difficult disease to diagnose, but is it really possible that 20 percent of the MS diagnoses are wrong? Apparently so. This study reports that…

Take a minute … and relax. It’s been a fraught few weeks of numerous solo hospital visits, as my wife was first dealing with a dying father and then helping to organize his funeral, estate, and her own turbulent emotions. Her mum had died only four months ago.

Are you having trouble paying for MS medications? If so, you’re not alone. People change or lose their insurance, and plans change the medications they cover from year to year. Your neurologist may change your medication without realizing that moving you from an injection to an oral med may…