Columns

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. If a user says “Alexa, start MS Awareness” the system will respond with a random MS fact. (And a short…

News that daclizumab, brand name Zinbryta, has been given the go-ahead to be available through the U.K.’s National Health Service (NHS) for treating relapsing MS, at least in part of the country, is good news. But why has the decision taken…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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 Crohn’s disease and, writing…

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…

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…

Editor’s note: Our IBD columnist, Judy Walters, will have 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…

Here is my Pick of the Week’s News, as published in Multiple Sclerosis News Today. ‘Liberation Therapy’ 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…

The practice of collecting data about how we MS patients go about living our lives, and then using that data to improve our patient care, seems to be gathering steam. In the European Union a project called Real World Evidence Data, or RWE, is working outside of the…

The sky-high costs to Medicare for prescriptions of the MS medication H.P. Acthar Gel,  as reported in Multiple Sclerosis News Today were highlighted at the Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS) 2017 Forum in…

We all know, because we have heard it so many times, that MS is not the same for everyone — that no two people have exactly the same combination of symptoms. That got me…

When it comes to multiple sclerosis, mastering your own understanding of the disease means you need to mind your Ps and Qs, dot your Is, cross your Ts, and recite your ABCs. There is so much to know about this complex disease. But the more you know as…

If I were playing “Chronic Disease Bingo,” I’d be a winner! In addition to MS, I have three other chronic health conditions. While that may sound bad, it’s not unusual in the world of autoimmune disease, and I consider myself fairly healthy. This is thanks partly to attitude, but…

I believe myself to be a person with great self confidence. It was a long journey to arrive at this destination, but once I arrived I knew I was here. I realize that chronic illness doesn’t only affect us physically, it manifests in other ways, too. There are psychological,…

A few weeks ago I wrote a column titled, “Why Can’t Some MS Docs Communicate With Their Patients?” It’s very unlikely that two doctors from the Cleveland Clinic — Mikkael A. Sekeres and Timothy D. Gilligan — read that column. But they, too, have written a piece about a…

Here’s my Pick of the Week’s News, as published in Multiple Sclerosis News Today. MS Organizations Join #MySupportHero Initiative to Help Patients Salute Those Who Care Oh, I can see me fitting in well here. To see what I mean, just take a look at two previous…

When people ask me what I love, I usually respond, “God, my family, and St. Louis Cardinals baseball … in that order.” Other than the Razorbacks, Arkansas (my home state) doesn’t have much in the way of athletic bragging rights. Both when I was a kid and now,…

You probably talk about multiple sclerosis (MS) symptoms, drugs and therapies when you meet with your neurologist, but I’ll bet that most people don’t talk very much about working. Being able to work, and continuing to hold down a job, is important. I see concerns about this all…

I was in Washington, D.C. for a meeting, and had the opportunity to dine with some fellow multiple sclerosis advocates. I thought it might be of interest to get their take on the most pressing issues of 2017 for people living with MS. I wasn’t sure what to…

There is now less than a month until the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to approve Ocrevus, generic name ocrelizumab, for use as a therapy for multiple sclerosis. Clinical trials have shown Genentech’s drug to be a promising therapy for relapsing MS and, significantly,…

My coming trip to Spain has me in research mode. After making a list of my travel questions last week, I decided to obtain the answers to just a few each week. Baby steps for this novice planner. Before I decide whether to take my AFO, cooling vest, trekking…

I’ve spent a lot of time lately around people following special diets. They’re either voluntarily cutting carbs, counting calories, following a diet plan, or fasting, but not because they have a medical condition. Mostly they diet to feel better, lose some weight, or reset their metabolism. I wish them well, even as…

The role of the microbiome and its association with multiple sclerosis was the topic of several sessions and papers at the Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS) 2017 Forum. More than 800 researchers and clinicians attended the second annual meeting in Orlando last week to hear…

Harold Weiner, MD, believes in using probiotics to help treat multiple sclerosis. He is such a believer that he did a presentation on the subject — “Probiotics in Multiple Sclerosis” — at the just-concluded Americas for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS) 2017 Forum in Orlando. The event…

March is recognized by the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America as MS Awareness Month. Awareness is a vital component of any illness. We must actively engage to collectively congregate and support the cause by way of our time, resources and voices. We are seeking to make communities aware of…

Earlier this month Bioness announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had cleared its new “L300 Go” functional electronic stimulator (FES). It’s an upgrade of the original “L300” that I’ve been using for more than five years. Without the “L300” strapped to my left leg…

Music therapy has long been known for its healing powers — its use dates back to WWI, where it was used to help with the physical and emotional healing of the wounded. Music can also be of help to those of us with multiple sclerosis. An article from the…