March 29, 2017 Columns by Judy Lynn The Anniversary Effect: How Do You Remember Your Diagnosis Date? Editor’s note: Marking the second MS diagnosis anniversary of our columnists in oneĀ week, Judy Lynn writes about the “Anniversary Effect.” This week marks the 14th anniversary of my MS diagnosis. That day, March 27, 2003, is etched clearly in my mind.Ā Ask me about anything else I was doing…
March 29, 2017 Columns by Cathy Chester Integrative Medicine for MS: an Interview with Dr. Bowling When you live with multiple sclerosis you search for ways to manage your disease. You turn to doctors who inevitably prescribe one of the many FDA-approved medications, but sometimes thatās not enough. To complete the picture of seeking better health, you need to also look outside…
March 28, 2017 Columns by Patricia Silva, PhD Dedicated Handicapped Parking is About Availability, Not Cost Being disabled by MS does not have many advantages. One ā free city street parking in California ā is likelyĀ to end soon.Ā In the rush to garner parking revenue, though, the lack of concurrent discussion about providing dedicated handicapped parking (DHP) is troubling. The widespread abuse…
March 28, 2017 Columns by Teresa Wright-Johnson The Detriment of Unsolicited Advice Regarding MS and Chronic Illness I am sure many of us have had instances where someone āofferedā their advice on what is the best way to manage our illnesses. They are not medical professionals and many of them don’t suffer from the disease themselves. They present their beliefs as scientific dogma, often referring to…
March 28, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias My MS Is Getting to Be a Pain, Literally For most of the 36 years since I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis I’ve not been bothered by pain. Just lucky, I guess. Until last month. Suddenly, I’ve developed pain in both hips and I don’t know why. The pain is most intense when I first put my feet on…
March 27, 2017 Columns by Tamara Sellman Why It’s Important to Observe Your Diagnosis Anniversary On March 27, 2013, my primary care physician called me about MRI results from the day before. He and the radiologist concurred; they had foundĀ evidence of brain lesions consistent withĀ multiple sclerosis. Following protocol, heĀ sentĀ me to the best specialist in SeattleĀ to confirm diagnosis. His was aĀ preliminary diagnosis. In the…
March 27, 2017 Columns by Debi Wilson Serenity Now: Relaxation Techniques for MS, Part Two My last column “Serenity Now: Relaxation Techniques for MS, Part One” offered some quick and easy suggestions on how to relax in times of stress. This columnĀ is a continuationĀ of that series. Movement, massage and applied pressure to the correct areas have many benefits. Massaging certain areas of…
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 24, 2017 Columns by John Connor History Conjures Up Electricity-Aided Walking, but a Too-Daring Pilot It seems I’ve made it to my second weekly column. I was going to write about a non-MS physical impairment that had kept me down for a month. It’s easing now and hopefully will make a future story with a happy ending. Instead I’m going to do a bang-up-to-the-moment piece…
March 24, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias Using Tattoo Art to Make a Statement About MS There won’t be a lot of my words in this column but there will be lot of pictures. The column is devoted to some very personal multiple sclerosis art: Tattoos. Most of these “tats” contain an orange ribbon, the symbol for MS awareness. Some, as you’ll see, are a…
March 24, 2017 Columns by Tamara Sellman The MS Alphabet: Blinding, B-cells, Betaseron and Other B Words (Editor’s note: Today, Tamara continues her occasional series on the MS alphabet by giving further attention to the letter B.) When it comes to multiple sclerosis, mastering an understanding of the disease means you need to mind your Ps and Qs, dot your Is, cross your Ts, and recite…
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 22, 2017 Columns by Judy Lynn How Well Will MS and Jet Lag Play Together? Diligent research and planning have left me confident in my ability to enjoy upcoming travels, while managing Ā MS and health concerns. Decisions have been made regarding luggage, medications, airport travel, car rental, and accommodations. I know whether to expect sun or snow, cobblestone or freeways, and have been practicing…
March 21, 2017 Columns by Teresa Wright-Johnson My Fight Song for Multiple Sclerosis Most of us have heard Rachel Platten’s Fight Song. It became an anthem for many people who struggle with illness and adversity. Fight Song has become one of my favorite odes. As a writer, I love to listen to the words of song lyrics. The music is…
March 21, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias Improving the Odds of Going the Way You Want to Go Sooner or later we’re all going to die. We may not want to think about it, but it’s important that we do, especially those of us with a chronic disease such as multiple sclerosis. Though we don’t have a choice about dying, we can have a…
March 21, 2017 Columns by John Connor A Mountain to Climb with MS – in My Living Room So, I’m lying on the floor taking in the stippled ceiling we’ve never changed in the past 19 years. My son, Ā also 19, is now at university. That’s how I can be so exact on the age of my relationship with the hideously slathered ceiling. We moved in one month…
March 20, 2017 Columns by Debi Wilson Serenity Now: Relaxation Techniques for MS, Part One Relaxation and serenity are both attainable with the correct calming techniques. When overwhelmed by stress, the skills that have been gained and practiced become second nature to be summoned as needed. The combination of stress and multiple sclerosis can wreak havoc in the body. It can lead to a…
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 āending MS foreverā: Interview with MS Societyās Tim Coetzee Ocrevus possibly being one of the most significant advances in MS treatment, especially for people with PPMS, the…
March 17, 2017 Columns by Jamie Hughes MS Awareness Month: Which Ribbon Are We Again? March is Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month.Ā That means we need to make the most of these four weeks to raise some money for research, and raise awareness about the disease and the 2.5 million people in the world currently living with it. Whatās the best way…
March 17, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias Alexa, Tell Me About MS Alexa, Amazon’s little voice-activated information box, has just received a multiple sclerosis infusion. As part of MS Awareness Month, fifty facts about MS have been loaded into Alexa’s memory.Ā If a user says “Alexa, start MS Awareness” the system will respond with a random MS fact. (And a short…
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-aheadĀ to be available through the U.K.ās 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 15, 2017 Columns by Patricia Silva, PhD Walk In, Roll Out: The Conundrum of Cardio Exercise with MS In pursuit of an answer for breathing difficulty The MRI of my cervical and thoracic spine showed no active lesions last week. That was good news. Other…
March 15, 2017 Columns by Tamara Sellman MS and the Fear of Missing Out A couple of weeks ago I had a curious encounter with the friend of a friend. I live in a small town. In some ways we’re all at least neighbors. Huddled in a small group at the local grocery store, we were chatting about our experiences with the…
March 15, 2017 Columns by Cathy Chester More and More Studies Linking Multiple Sclerosis to the Gut Microbiome The past few months have not been fun. We lost my father-in-law, put our beloved cat down, and moved from our home to a townhouse that is too small and poorly built. With a low inventory of rental properties in our area, and…
March 14, 2017 Columns by Teresa Wright-Johnson Advocacy and Chronic Illness: Always Take a Proactive Approach This was an eventful week. I was not feeling well and ultimately ended up in the hospital for a couple of days. I had severe neck pain that radiated to my shoulder and arm. In addition, I woke up one morning with severe chest pains. I couldn’t determine whether…
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 Crohnās disease and, writing…
March 14, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias Is Your Doctor’s Business Interfering With Your Treatment? One of my favorite movie lines appears in “Jerry Maguire.” Sports-agent Maguire is trying to convince one of his football-player clients to stay with him and the client keeps insisting: “Show me the money.” I got to thinking of that line the other evening, while reading a Facebook post…
March 13, 2017 Columns by Debi Wilson An MS Exacerbation ā Did I Just Blow a Fuse? When describing a multiple sclerosis exacerbation (also called a relapse, attack, or flare-up), comparing it to a home’s circuit panel is a good analogy to use. When a fuse blows on the circuit board the power is interrupted. During an MS attack, the myelin sheath that covers nerve axons…
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 haveĀ 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 Weekās News: Useless Liberation Therapy, Immune System, After Obamacare, Aging with SPMS, IsolateMS Here is my Pick of the Weekās News, as published in Multiple Sclerosis News Today. āLiberation Therapyā 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…