November 21, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias Flu Shot or No Flu Shot for MS Patients? It’s that time of year again. The time of year where I keep seeing posts on MS social media posts asking, “should I get a flu shot?” In my honest opinion, yes, definitely! There are certainly different opinions about this, but I think that my opinion is the…
November 20, 2017 Columns by Debi Wilson Living a Grateful Life The road to living a grateful life is not always a smooth and paved one. There are curves and roadblocks that can send any thoughts of gratitude far off into the distance. Life is constantly changing…
November 20, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Cannabis Studies, Oral Therapy Study, and Exercising with Wii MMJ Hires Lead Investigator for Phase 2 Trials of Medicinal Cannabis to Treat Progressive MS The real news here is what hiring a lead investigator means. It means that Phase 2 trials of a medical marijuana product to treat MS pain and spasticity are closer to beginning.
November 17, 2017 Columns by Jamie Hughes Don’t Be a Turkey Because I come from a retail family ā one that, for decades, put in long hours behind cash registers and in stock rooms ā Christmas is not a holiday we particularly look forward to arriving. We enjoyed it, when the day came. But often in my youth, we were…
November 17, 2017 Columns by John Connor The Case of the Worried Patient Hypochondria grabs, and it’s very difficult to shake. I spent the past three days eliminating potential reasons for struggling more than usual. Hopefully, it was a urinary tract infection (UTI) that was causing severe lethargy. It might have been at the start; I immediately jumped on a high ph…
November 17, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias Airport Tips for Holiday Flyers Thanksgiving is just a few days away, so I thought it would be a good time to repeat a few of my airline travel tips and add a few new ones. Get the wait-time app Needless to say, you need to get to the airport early on busy travel…
November 16, 2017 Columns by Jennifer (Jenn) Powell An Anniversary of Sorts: 7 Years Since My Diagnosis Anniversaries often invoke reflection about the beginning, the journey, and where we now find ourselves. With luck, lessons will have been learned from the invariably good and bad experiences that couple any passage of time. In November 2010, I sat, eyes firmly affixed, as my neurologist read my…
November 16, 2017 Columns by Laura Kolaczkowski A JC Virus Primer There is often alarm and confusion about the JC virus, how we get it, and what it means to people with multiple sclerosis. This is my quick primer to help address these questions in a very basic way. What is the JC virus? The first person identified with this…
November 15, 2017 Columns by Mike Knight 3 Tips for Explaining MS to Others Face it: Understanding MS isnāt easy ā even if you have it. Thereās no known cause, no cure, no predictability in progression, and while there are common symptoms and manifestations, they affect everyone differently. Some symptoms come and go with no rhyme or reason and…
November 14, 2017 Columns by Teresa Wright-Johnson The Awe of Autumn: Welcoming Change , Spring has always been my favorite season. There is something about flowers blooming, grass growing and the germination process that invigorates me. Spring reminds me that a new season is coming and it ignites hope. I am discovering that autumn deeply resonates with me as well. When I…
November 14, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias Thanks to Caregivers Who Share Our MS Load The MS load we carry is heavy. Some of us, unfortunately, must carry it alone. But many of us are fortunate to have someone with whom we can share the weight. It’s National Family Caregivers Month and a new survey shows just how heavy that load can…
November 13, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Myelin Repair, MS Blood Test, Comparing DMTs Myelin-producing Brain Cells Regenerated Using Stem Cells in Early Study We know that when the myelin coating of our nerve axons is destroyed, MS symptoms result. So a process that halts or reverses that destruction is the goal of a lot of MS research. This is a…
November 9, 2017 Columns by Tamara Sellman The MS Alphabet: MRI, Myelin, mAbs, and Other ‘M’ Words Editorās note: Tamara Sellman continues her occasional series on the MS alphabet with this first of two columns about terms starting with the letter M. Symptoms of MS Memory problems Memory loss is a common complaint for people with MS. Even for those with no physical or…
November 9, 2017 Columns by Jennifer (Jenn) Powell A Beacon of Hope Amid MS-Related Pain Do you have pain? Although prone to subjectivity, I am certain the majority of you silently said yes. I did. I hesitated to write this, as pain, from the definition of it to the management of it, is idiosyncratic. Rather than draw hard and fast lines, I prefer to…
November 9, 2017 Columns by Laura Kolaczkowski Ocrevus Q&A, Part 2 Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part series on readers’ comments about Ocrevus (ocrelizumab). Read part one here. Last week, I responded to a few comments on columns regarding my personal experience with Ocrevus (ocrelizumab). Here are more reader comments and my answers.
November 8, 2017 Columns by Judy Lynn Show Your Immune System Some Love This weekend, as I turned back the clocks, searched for my Happy Light, and stared in dismay at the first snowfall of the season, I was reminded that it is the time to give my immune system some extra love. Autumn and winter ā with their requisite cold and…
November 7, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias Thinking About Stopping Your MS Treatments? Have you ever thought about stopping whatever MS treatment you’re using? I have. So has John Corboy. Corboy’s not an MS patient. Rather, he’s a researcher at the University of Colorado’s medical school. And he’s studying whether older patients, if they haven’t had a relapse for several…
November 6, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Older Patients, Stem Cells, Myelin, B-cells vs. T-cells #MSParis2017 ā Trial to See if Disease-modifying Therapies Not Necessary in Older MS Patients This tops my list this week because, at age 69, I certainly fit the definition of an “older” MS patient. The study is hoping to enroll 300 MS patients in the U.S. who…
November 3, 2017 Columns by John Connor The Weekend The weekend should have started on Friday. My sister-in-law is over from France and there was the first gathering of the clan in a local hostelry. I took the sensible option of staying in as there was an even bigger do at our place on Saturday night. My…
November 3, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias Dealing with Disaster While Dealing with MS Are you ready for a disaster? Wildfires in the wine country of Northern California exploded so quickly that survivors say they didn’t know they were threatened until flames were nearly at their doors. Hurricane Harvey forced more than 9,000 people into Houston’s main evacuation shelter. It…
November 2, 2017 Columns by Tamara Sellman The MS Alphabet: Lhermitte’s, LDN, Lymphopenia, and other ‘L’ words Editorās note: Tamara Sellman continues her occasional series on the MS alphabet with the second of two columns about terms starting with the letter “L.” Symptoms of MS Lhermitteās Sign Otherwise known as “barber chair sign,” Lhermitte’s sign describes an intense shock-like pain racing down the back…
November 2, 2017 Columns by Jennifer (Jenn) Powell Don’t Miss Out on Life I love photographs and have them strewn about and framed throughout the house. From grandchildren and goldens, holidays and travels, each holds a cherished memory. I am happiest taking photos and have cultivated somewhat of a hobby doing so. As I have gotten older, I have (gratefully) discarded the…
November 2, 2017 Columns by Laura Kolaczkowski Ocrevus Q&A, Part 1 Editor’s Note: First in a two-part series on readers’ comments about Ocrevus (ocrelizumab). I switched disease-modifying therapies and began treatment with Ocrevus (ocrelizumab)Ā in June. I previously wrote about my reasons for switching, my experiences with the first two doses, and more recently, about any…
November 1, 2017 Columns by Mike Knight On the Other Hand: Leaning Left With MS Some months ago my wife and I went out for dinner at our favorite sushi place. As is frequently the custom at sushi restaurants, the table setting included chopsticks. No forks. Iāll be painfully honest here: We are both woefully unskilled at using…
October 31, 2017 Columns by Teresa Wright-Johnson Invisible Illness Awareness: The Struggle Continues Last week was Invisible Illness Awareness Week, which ran from Oct 14-20. Awareness weeks are designed to bring attention to certain conditions, issues and situations. They are directed at creating consciousness and disseminating information. Sadly, invisible illness is a subject that needs much more attention. Those of…
October 31, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias MS Relapses May Be Significantly Under-Reported. Duh. This comes as no surprise to me and probably not to you. MS patients may not always contact their healthcare providers when they’re having a relapse. This information comes via a pair of surveys that were released at the recent ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS conference in Paris. In the first,…
October 30, 2017 Columns by Debi Wilson Life’s Curveballs Life is full of curveballs, with a mix of sliders, split-fingered fastballs, and sinkers thrown in. And, it is the curveballs that can be the hardest to take. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is one of the major “curveballs” thrown into my life; I didn’t see it coming and it…
October 30, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: #MSParis, Biotin, Tysabri, Lemtrada, Propionic Acid Reports There’s been a lot of interest in the treatments (including natural treatments) for progressive MS that were presented at the ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS conference in Paris last week. Here are a few of our reports involving that research. #MSParis2017 ā MedDayās High-Dose Biotin, MD1003, Improves Disability in Progressive MS…
October 27, 2017 Columns by Jamie Hughes Meowmaste: Finding a Spark Inside Myself āWe donāt say the āD wordā here,ā our instructor said. āJust for tonight, letās all get into downward-facing cat.ā The yoga pose wasnāt one I was comfortable in, but then again, so much about yoga makes me uncomfortable ā the clothes, the breathy pseudo-spirituality, the jargon, the way…
October 27, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias Patients and Neurologists Team Up to Gather MS Therapy Data Since the approval of the first disease-modifying drug (DMD) for MS back in the mid-1990s, another dozen or so have been added as treatment options. But, just as MS affects each patient differently, so do the drugs. Missing has been a tool to follow MS patients and their…