December 5, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News Notes: Sexual Dysfunction, Bladder Problems, AI, and More Welcome to āMS News Notes,ā where I comment on multiple sclerosis (MS) news stories that caught my eye last week. Hereās a look at whatās been happening: A medication that may ease sexual problems for women with MS Sexual dysfunction is common among people with MS, affecting up…
December 2, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias Are the MS Stages Still Useful in a Diagnosis? What’s in a name? Does it really matter if your multiple sclerosis (MS) is called relapsing or progressive, or secondary rather than primary? I’ve never thought so, and the International Advisory Committee on Clinical Trials in MS agrees with me. The panel is calling for new methods…
November 28, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News Notes: Climate Change, MS Progression, Brain Shrinkage Welcome to āMS News Notes,ā where I comment on multiple sclerosis (MS) news stories that caught my eye last week. Hereās a look at whatās happening: Study reports climate change makes MS symptoms worse Climate change may lead to more perils than rising oceans, harsher storms, and melting ice…
November 25, 2022 Columns by John Connor The World Cup of Football ā or Is It Soccer? ā Offers an Escape From MS In the five years I’ve been tapping away at this multiple sclerosis (MS) column for MS News Today, Iāve so far written during one FIFA World Cup. My oft used trope is that “itās football, not soccer,” for our many U.S. readers. That is, at least, how…
November 25, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias Dr. Amazon Takes a Third Jab at Medical Care For the past few years, the company that brings us everything from books to basketballs has been experimenting with doing the same with medical care. Of course, it’s Amazon. In 2018, the company launched a project called Haven in partnership with a pair of financial giants, with the goal…
November 22, 2022 Columns by Jamie Hughes Sweeter Than Honey: Finding the Balance That Works for You Iām a fairly neat and tidy person, but you wouldnāt have thought that if youād looked in my kitchen over the last few weeks. Bottles of oils, jars full of melted wax, bags of butters and soaps, and boxes were scattered everywhere. My husband is a beekeeper, and…
November 21, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News Notes: Stem Cell Therapy, EBV Vaccine, Diabetes, Diets Welcome to āMS News Notes,ā where I comment on multiple sclerosis (MS) news stories that caught my eye last week. Here’s a look at what’s happening: Understanding stem cell therapy Researchers in Zurich wanted to understand what happens to the immune system of a person with MS undergoing a…
November 18, 2022 Columns by John Connor The Catch-22 of Dealing With Medical Bureaucracy First off, let me apologize for my penchant for using hip literary references. Not everyone is aware of Joseph Heller’s seminal satirical novel published in 1961, which spawned the book’s title of “Catch-22” as a quick-fire phrase to describe anything that is nearly impossible to get out of. Our…
November 18, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias The MS Hug: A Frightening Embrace You’d Rather Not Have In the 42 years that I’ve lived with multiple sclerosis (MS) I’m glad that I’ve only been hugged twice. I’m talking about the MS hug, and it wasn’t fun. This MS symptomĀ can feel like pressure or pain around the chest, back, or stomach, and it can be…
November 17, 2022 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister Striking a Balance Between Self-pity and Giving Yourself Grace They say that if you happen upon other people talking about you, you shouldnāt listen in. I have no idea who ātheyā are. Iāve searched for a quote to give someone the proper credit, but have had no luck. The most likely scenario that comes to mind is that I…
November 14, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News Notes: Foralumab, ATA188, Precision Care, PoNS Trial Welcome to āMS News Notes,ā where I comment on multiple sclerosis (MS) news stories that caught my eye last week. Here’s a look at what’s happening: Could a nasal spray join the MS treatment arsenal? Shots, pills, and infusions are approved in the U.S. as disease-modifying therapies for MS,…
November 11, 2022 Columns by John Connor Someone in My Family Has Medical Problems, and It Aināt Me You get used to ā¦ Hold on there, matey boy. Be honest and write “I.” This column has a reputation for brutal honesty (I’m sure someone has referred to it that way over the past five years), so donāt get all coy now that youāre not the center of medical…
November 11, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias These Home Accommodations Can Make Living With MS Easier What do you do to make living with multiple sclerosis (MS) easier? A similar question was posed to readers of the MS News Today Facebook page recently, and about 175 people responded. Even an MS old-timer like me (I’ve been living with the disease for 42 years and…
November 10, 2022 Columns by Stephen De Marzo How I Survived My Odyssey With a Urinary Tract Infection Well, I survived! I would’ve never believed something so seemingly insignificant could cause such devastating and lasting effects on my health. Iāve had urinary tract infections (UTIs) before, as they’re a complication of self-catheterization with multiple sclerosis (MS). But this was the mother of all UTIs. It started…
November 8, 2022 Columns by Jamie Hughes Switching to an Oral MS Medication Is a Hard Pill to Swallow In one of my favorite scenes of the 1970s movie “The Goodbye Girl,” Paula McFadden (played by Marsha Mason) begs Elliot Garfield (played by Richard Dreyfuss) to quit playing the guitar late at night when he canāt sleep. āHave you ever tried pills?ā she asks, to which he…
November 7, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News Notes: Stem Cell Transplant Versus DMTs, Treatment Efficacy, Cancer Risk, Employment Welcome to “MS News Notes,” where I comment on multiple sclerosis (MS) news stories that caught my eye last week. The articles in today’s column came from the annual Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS), held Oct. 26ā28 in Amsterdam. Most…
November 4, 2022 Columns by John Connor I’m Taking This Medication Side Effect With a Grain of Salt The call from my urologistās office came far later than I was expecting, in regards to my long-term chronic urinary tract infection (UTI). The call came in on my home phone, but luckily, someone else was around to answer it. I long ago gave up trying to answer that…
November 4, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias My New Set of Wheels Is More Accommodating to MS Needs I’ve been feeling like a soccer mom the past month or so, even though I’m a 74-year-old guy. My wife and I are leasing a minivan, the go-to wheels of after-school sports parents. It also seems to be a great vehicle for someone with a disability like multiple sclerosis…
November 3, 2022 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister Relief From Multiple Sclerosis Sleep Disorders Is a Dream Multiple sclerosis (MS) and a good nightās sleep seem to be mutually exclusive. I seriously doubt that anyone with MS will reply in the comments that the disease has blessed them with the best sleep of their lives. Yet I used the word “seem” because when writing about any…
November 2, 2022 Columns by Beth Ullah Making the Difficult Decision to Step Away From Fertility Treatment Ten years ago, my husband and I lost our twin girls during my 18th week of pregnancy. In some ways, it feels as though this decade has flown by in the blink of an eye, but in others, it feels as though an eternity has passed. Several years before I…
October 31, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News Notes: ECTRIMS, Ocrevus, Kesimpta, Epstein-Barr, DMTs Here are a few multiple sclerosis (MS) stories that caught my eye last week. Two of them came out of this year’s Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS). Ocrevus treatment More than 250,000 people with MS have been treated with the…
October 28, 2022 Columns by John Connor Do You Want the Good News or the Bad News? Ah, one of the classic setups for a Christmas cracker joke. Others include, “Why did the chicken cross the road?” and “How many ____ does it take to change a lightbulb?” While these gags are popular in Britain, I’m not sure if they exist in the rest of the English-speaking…
October 28, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias Do Doctors Discriminate Against People With Disabilities? “I Am Not The Doctor For You” is the title of a shocking new study published earlier this month in the journal Health Affairs. It reports that a number of doctors acknowledged being uncomfortable with treating people with a disability. The study was conceived of by Lisa Iezzoni,…
October 24, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News Notes: Nabiximols, Spinal Fluid Biomarkers, Mediterranean Diet, ‘Shaky’ Treadmill Here are a few multiple sclerosis (MS) stories that caught my eye last week: Can nabiximols ease MS spasticity? In “4 Weeks of Nabiximols Found to Ease Spasticity in MS Pilot Study,” Margarida Maia reports some potentially good news for people with MS spasticity. Nabiximols, marketed in…
October 21, 2022 Columns by John Connor A Childish Adult With MS Looks Back on His Life and Has Questions “You married a husband and ended up with a child,” quipped I. It was first thing Sunday morning, and I was addressing my wife of 30 years, Jane. She stood with blue, latex, hypoallergenic gloves on her hands, ready to deal with my sopping wet pad. More on that…
October 21, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias Time for COVID-19 Boosters and Seasonal Flu Shots It’s the time of the season. Every year around this time, I get a seasonal flu shot. I’ve been doing this for as long as I can remember, certainly all of my adult life. But this year is a little different. There are now three flu vaccines preferentially recommended…
October 20, 2022 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister Why Do We Turn Into MS Monsters Just Before an Ocrevus Infusion? Something is happening to me. All four limbs have become heavier than usual over the past two weeks. My arms and fingers are stiffer and less responsive, and Iāve somehow managed to effect a shuffling gait in my wheelchair. My eyes tire quickly, to the point it seems like Iām…
October 17, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News Notes: Cholesterol and MS Progression, Fatigue, Epstein-Barr Note: This column has been updated Oct. 18, 2022, to correct the name of the cholesterolĀ medicine the columnist uses to Pravachol.Ā Here are a few multiple sclerosis (MS) stories that caught my eye last week: Low cholesterol and aggressive MS progression The story “Low Cholesterol May Reflect More…
October 14, 2022 Columns by John Connor As Ever, I Prevaricate Before Taking On My Focus: Long COVID-19 Ah, after living the majority of the last three years of my life indoors, I do tend to spark conversation with my carers. But if I keep quiet, they’re more than happy to do so, too, as they repetitively deal with the rigmarole of getting me ready every morning. It’s…
October 14, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias New Gadolinium-based Contrast Agent Elucirem Will Soon Be Available for MRIs If you have multiple sclerosis (MS), you’ve probably had several MRIs “with” and “without.” The “with” means injecting a contrast agent containing gadolinium into a vein. The agent then travels into the brain, where it “lights up” areas of active inflammation that otherwise would be difficult or impossible…