August 22, 2016 Columns by admin MS Patient’s Pick of the Week’s News: Blood Tests, Marijuana, Cameras, and More Hereās my Pick of the Weekās News, as published in Multiple SclerosisĀ News Today. Blood Test Seen to Distinguish MS from Other Neurological Conditions A faster way to tell the difference between neurological diseases could mean earlier access to treatment for MS patients. Researchers atĀ Michigan State…
August 19, 2016 Columns by admin Delays in Seeing Specialists a Growing Barrier to MS Diagnosis and Treatment There can be absolutely no excuse for anyone experiencing the first signs and symptoms of neurological conditions like MS having to wait a long time to see an appropriate specialist, such as a neurologist. Delays in seeing specialists is a complaint often heard from patients in variousĀ countries, and it…
August 17, 2016 Columns by Laura Kolaczkowski CVS Prescription Plan Drops Big Name MS Drugs from 2017 Formulary The CVS Caremark coveredĀ insurance plan has dropped Avonex, Plegridy and Extavia, three multiple sclerosis disease-modifying therapies, from their 2017 formulary. You say, OK, but what does that really mean? If your prescription insurance is through CVS Caremark, and you want one of those drugs or one…
August 17, 2016 Columns by admin New Pre-HSCT Treatment May Be the Future, but HSCT with Lower Dose Chemo is Right Choice for MS Patients Now News that scientists in the U.S. are working to find a new pre-HSCT treatment to carry out stem cell transplants without the need for chemotherapy, as published in Multiple Sclerosis News Today, leaves me with mixed feelings. While such a development could potentially be great news and an…
August 16, 2016 Columns by Ed Tobias Multiple Sclerosis Fatigue: Puzzling over the Jigsaw Feeling tired?Ā No surprise there.Ā Fatigue is as much a part of living with Multiple Sclerosis as sand is a part of the beach where I live. It’s interesting, then, that neurologists seem to have no good system for measuring levels of MS fatigue or any treatments that are…
August 16, 2016 Columns by Judy Lynn Bloom, Wherever You Fall! An MS Detour Editor’s Note: MS Patient Specialist and Columnist Judy Lynn writes from her unique and engaging perspective as an MS patient reflecting on the challenges that the disease presents and how to cope with them in her daily life. In her debut article for her new Column “You’ve Got Some Nerves,”…
August 15, 2016 Columns by Debi Wilson Is Your Neurologist Listening to What Your MS Is Saying? Editor’s Note: Debi Wilson’s column “Faith of the Mustard Seed” explores a range of important topics that relate directly to the patient experience. In her debut article, she discusses her own experiences with neurologists, and encourages MS to not settle on a specialist until they feel as though their…
August 15, 2016 Columns by Laura Kolaczkowski REAL MS Research Needs You You want to help find answers about multiple sclerosis but donāt know how, and I hear your frustration about being unable to contribute in meaningful ways. Let me share with you the news that REAL MS (Research Engagement About Life with MS) was launched this summer, and I…
August 15, 2016 News by admin MS Patientās Pick of the Weekās News: Aggressive Therapies, Early MRIs, Tysabri and More Hereās my Pick of the Weekās News, as published by Multiple Sclerosis News Today. Best First-Line Treatment for Aggressive MS May Be Equally Aggressive Immunotherapies Sounds like “Fight fire with fire” to me; could be just what is needed. Patients with aggressive onset multiple sclerosis, characterized…
August 9, 2016 Columns by Ed Tobias Don’t Let Multiple Sclerosis Ground You Flight is freedom in its purest form, To dance with the clouds which follow a storm; To roll and glide, to wheel and spin, To feel the joy that swells within; To leave the earth…
August 8, 2016 Columns by admin MS Patientās Pick of the Weekās News: Antioxidant Therapies, Ocrevus, and Other Notables Here is my Pick of the Weekās News, from articles published onĀ Multiple Sclerosis News Today.Ā Antioxidant Therapies Seen as Promising Approach in Treating MS and Like Diseases Maybe antioxidant research could provide another avenue of MS therapy. A review article published in theĀ British…
August 5, 2016 Columns by Laura Kolaczkowski Hospitality Care Service for Clinical Trial Participants This idea is so simple. But it has been overlooked for years until the partners of Gray Consulting, a Philadelphia firm, connected the dots and developed a better way to engage and retain people in clinical trials.Ā Scott Gray, CEO, took time out to speak with me about…
August 5, 2016 Columns by admin Wondering How MS Will Affect Me Today Waking up in the morning and facing the world brings a sense of wonder. Not in the sense of awe, just in wondering how MS will affect me today. Is it a good day or a bad day? What will it bring? Like most people,…
August 3, 2016 Columns by admin Stem Cell Clinics Under Critical Scrutiny in US Stem cell clinics are proliferating in the U.S., where there are now 570 in operation, according to a paper quoted by the New York Times. And concerns are being raised that these clinics are often operating and making claims beyond those allowed by the countryās public health regulatory…
August 1, 2016 Columns by Laura Kolaczkowski FICO Enters Healthcare Arena with Treatment Adherence Scores Do you take your drugs as they are prescribed?Ā It turns out a lot of us donāt and that is a concern to theĀ people in charge of our healthcare dollars. The California Association ofĀ Health Plans estimates that costs for prescription for chronic diseases such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid…
August 1, 2016 Columns by Ed Tobias MS Shaming: ‘You Don’t Look Like You Need a Handicapped Tag!’ Do you remember when you applied for a handicapped license plate? I put it off for quite a while after I was diagnosed. After all, I could walk several city blocks fairly easily. I could still play a little tennis. Why did I need to park in a…
August 1, 2016 Columns by admin MS Patientās Pick of the Weekās News: Progressive Dwindling, Vitamin D, Disability Burdens, Talking with Doctors, and My MS Manager App Hereās my Pick of the Week’s News, from stories published on Multiple Sclerosis News Today. Nearly 75% of MS Patients in UK Study Went Through Progressive Decline Prior to Death Very few people living with MS or anyone close by affected by the disease can really…
July 29, 2016 Columns by admin MS Patients in US and UK Face Very Different Treatment We may have international cooperation and worldwide this and that, but the fact remains that countries vary drastically from one another in all sorts of ways.Ā Take healthcare as an example, and the costs of treatment. Yes, we have the World Health Organization and there are various health-related initiatives…
July 28, 2016 Columns by admin Remyelination Studies Abound, But How About a Workable Therapy? Remyelination at the moment is the buzzword to beat all buzzwords in the world of research into, and treatment for, the vicious disease that isĀ multiple sclerosis. Now, as you are reading this, you must have some knowledge of MS and are sure to know about the link between the…
July 27, 2016 Columns by admin Benign MS: If Only We Had Known Then What Researchers Know Now Now they tell me! People diagnosed with what is termed as benign MS can benefit from disease modifying drugs (DMDs), according to a new study. Fourteen years ago, when diagnosed as having MS, the neurologist told me that it was benign. He said it had taken 25 years to progress…
July 26, 2016 Columns by admin ‘I am Cured,’ Says Woman with Aggressive Form of MS After Receiving HSCT in Canada An entry in the comments section of Multiple Sclerosis News Today caught my attention a couple of weeks ago, and peaked my interest. It was a personal tale of one woman’sĀ journeyĀ from beingĀ paralyzedĀ and told that her condition was “between you and God” to being able to walk again, thanks to HSCT.
July 25, 2016 Columns by Laura Kolaczkowski MS BLOG: Sort Anecdotal Claims, Real Science Before Research Treatments Can we all agree that research studies are important and they are necessary to prove whether a concept works or it doesnāt? Even from the biggest failures, we can learn more. We can also all agree that research has to be done via properly conducted studies to be accepted as…
July 25, 2016 Columns by Ed Tobias My MS Road: Diagnosis, Disease Management & Oral Vs. Injectable Therapies Editor’s Note: Multiple Sclerosis News Today is pleased to welcome Ed Tobias to our team of Patient Specialists and Columnists. Ed brings a wealth of journalistic experience to his new column, “The MS Wire,” which explores the latest science and research news for multiple sclerosisĀ from a patient’s perspective. Follow “The…
July 25, 2016 Columns by admin BLOG: MS Patient’s Pick of the Week’s News: Nanobionic, Recruiting, Benign, Generic Danger, and ‘Inactive but Progressive’ Hereās my Pick of the Week’s News, as published by Multiple Sclerosis News Today. Nanobionic Clothing Seen to Help Clear Body of Free Radicals Associated with MS and Other Diseases A recent study in theĀ Journal of Medicinal Chemistry…
July 22, 2016 Columns by admin Action Is Needed: Costs Limit MS Patients’ Access to DMTs A recent survey of more than 6,000Ā multiple sclerosis patients in the United States found that health insurance coverage can decide their access toĀ disease-modifying therapies (DMTs), and that that coverage is worsening, leaving a good numberĀ struggling to be able to pay for their treatment. As an MS patient myself, I find…
July 21, 2016 Columns by admin ‘My Super Diet Cured My MS! Buy My Book!’ There seems to be general agreement that achieving and keeping an overallĀ level of good health is very important for people living with multiple sclerosis, or with any chronic illness for that matter. And one way to reach that goal, many will say, is to eatĀ a healthy, well-balanced diet. Itās at…
July 19, 2016 Columns by admin Would You Take Parasitic Worm Secretions to Prevent Nervous System Inflammation? Do you have any strong feelings about worms? No, not earthworms you find in the garden, or even roundworms or tapeworms that can sometimes be found in animals and humans. What I am talking about is purposely being infected with parasitic worms. OK, it may not be as gross as…
July 18, 2016 Columns by Laura Kolaczkowski Phase 1 Clinical Trials – An Early, But Key Step, in Drug-approval Process We wait in anticipation for multiple sclerosis (MS) drugs to clear Phase 3 clinical trials and get to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approval, but I honesty knew little of the process that takes place before the large-scale testing of drugs in Phase 3. I was selected to…
July 18, 2016 Columns by admin MS Patientās Pick of the Weekās News: Remyelination Drug Patent, Gut Microbiota, Statins, Cognition and Depression Quite a mixed bag in theĀ pick of the week’sĀ news: A drug in development, microbiota in the gut, statins and MS, DMTs and cognitive skills, and images of depression. Endece Granted New U.S. Patent for NDC-1308, Therapy to Induce Remyelination in MS This is a bit of an…
July 15, 2016 Columns by admin Patients Need To Know What Drugs Do Inside Our Bodies Oral therapy Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate) seems to be emerging as a first-line treatment for relapsing multiple sclerosis ā according to Biogen, the company that developed it. Thatās good news, and something we need to know. The company agrees that for some time, the long-term effectiveness and safety of this oral…