Columns

Note: This column describes the author’s 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…

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…

Editor’s note: “MS News Notes” will return to its regular Monday morning schedule next week. Welcome to “MS News Notes,” a column where I comment on multiple sclerosis (MS) news stories that caught my eye last week. Here’s a look at what’s been happening: A 10-minute injection of…

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 hadn’t drunk my way there. Instead, my wee was indeed a real one, though painfully…

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…

I am not left-handed! No, I’m not channeling Westley or Inigo from “The Princess Bride,” just clarifying a common — and fair — 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…

Welcome to “MS News Notes,” a Monday morning column where I comment on multiple sclerosis (MS) news stories that caught my eye last week. Here’s a look at what’s been happening: Testing a new MRI contrast agent One concern that some people with MS have when getting an MRI…

I nearly jumped for joy — well, I would’ve if I could’ve — when I saw a new TV commercial for the Expedia travel company the other day. It shows a woman in winter who’s obviously had enough of the cold, ice, and snow. She is desperate to…

I must look like I need help all the time. I don’t own a shirt or any other article of clothing that says so, and I don’t think I have a helpless look on my face, either. I smile often, sometimes genuinely and sometimes with my mouth formed in…

Welcome to “MS News Notes,” a Monday morning column where I comment on multiple sclerosis (MS) news stories that caught my eye last week. Here’s a look at what’s been happening: Another study shows positive results with stem cell therapy Yet another study has concluded that autologous hematopoietic…

It’s only day one, but my eyesight has already improved. It may not be that of a hawk’s, but at least I can tell the difference between a lumbering pigeon and a bird of prey. The world seems brighter — and not just because of that vision thang, peeps. If…

It’s been almost two and a half years since my first COVID-19 vaccine — eight months since my most recent booster — and my COVID-19 antibodies seem to still be doing their thing. I know this because, after having nine test tubes of blood drawn, the lab results…

A few — OK, many — years ago, I played the lead in a production of “Oklahoma!” Don’t get excited; it wasn’t on Broadway or anything like that. It was a high school production, and I suspect I only landed the role because I could sing — and probably…

Welcome to “MS News Notes,” a Monday morning column where I comment on multiple sclerosis (MS) news stories that caught my eye last week. Here’s a look at what’s been happening: MS experts offer more than 50 vaccine guidelines I know there are different opinions about vaccines, and I’ve…

Nobody’s life is eternal, but let’s face it, peeps: Much of the psyche of a multiple sclerosis (MS) patient is internalized. I spend an inordinate amount of time, physical and mental, on my illness. Yer, OK, I’m not turning this into a therapy session. Or am I? A serious…

“What can Dr. Crayton help you with today?” I was starting my annual multiple sclerosis (MS) checkup with my neurologist, and before I met with her, I got this question from her MS nurse. I was stumped. I’d never been asked that before. I think most people with MS…

I didn’t seek support immediately after my diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS). To be fair, MS was just an annoyance to me at the beginning. It was simply a set of symptoms, and I was initially happy just to have an explanation for them. To be…

Welcome to “MS News Notes,” a Monday morning column where I comment on multiple sclerosis (MS) news stories that caught my eye last week. Here’s a look at what’s been happening: Myelin repair and clemastine The Multiple Sclerosis News Today story “MRI method detects myelin repair with…

For most of the past six years, I’ve been suffering from that weekly journo disease known as “columnitis.” One column is finished, hurrah! Bathe in the relief of getting that one in the net. (It’s a football reference, American “Ted Lasso” finale fans.) We’ve also just had the…

I’ve done quite a bit of flying, for business and pleasure, over the 42 years I’ve lived with multiple sclerosis (MS). It’s not easy traveling by air with my scooter, and I can’t imagine trying to fly with a 450-pound power wheelchair. Actually, I don’t have to imagine.

Einstein said that time is relative, and as I age (gracefully, I hope), I’ve found that to be true. For example, I frequently find myself referring to events that occurred a decade or more in the past as happening “just the other day.” In my mind, I’m still…

Welcome to “MS News Notes,” a Monday morning column where I comment on multiple sclerosis (MS) news stories that caught my eye last week. Here’s a look at what’s been happening: Foralumab shows early positive results for SPMS I’ll say up front that this is a very small study.

It’s not often that I dig into my somewhat sketchy knowledge from the Bachelor of Arts in economics I earned in 1980. Admittedly, it should really be described as ugly. Although I scrapped nearly one-third of my units of study, I still have the right in the U.K. (and perhaps…

We all know that the difficulty many of us with multiple sclerosis (MS) have walking can be caused by lesions that damage the nerves along the spinal cord. What if an electronic bridge could be built to carry nerve impulses over those damaged areas? That concept is being…

In the not-too-distant past, a friend shared a video clip from a competitive event with a few of us. One of the competitors had a shock of gray hair and was slowed by a noticeable limp. “Watch how smooth this guy is,” he said. As we all expressed our amazement…

Welcome to “MS News Notes,” a Monday morning column where I comment on multiple sclerosis (MS) news stories that caught my eye last week. Here’s a look at what’s been happening: Is CD40L a better way to control MS inflammation? CD40L is a protein that’s involved with activation of…

My sleep schedule, according to mathematics, leaves me 11 hours — so what’s my problem? My current ultra-efficient carers arrive at 9:30 a.m. and usually get me into the wet room 15 minutes later. Maybe 20 if my bottom has been misbehaving. It’s been something of a miscreant ever since…

Since the early days of the COVID-19 vaccination program, disinformation claiming that the vaccines can induce multiple sclerosis (MS) has swirled around social media. Recently, there’s been a resurgence of this type of post, sparked by a report published on the World Health Organization (WHO) website titled “…

Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS) — a training program for entry into the U.S. Army Special Forces — is rare, even among military courses. It has grueling physical aspects, but the majority of it is mental. It’s really one long test to gauge a participant’s ability to work…

Welcome to “MS News Notes,” a Monday morning column where I comment on multiple sclerosis (MS) news stories that caught my eye last week. Here’s a look at what’s been happening: A closer look at the EBV-MS link Much has been written over the past few years about the…