What's Important Now -- An MS Column by Ian Franks

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Ian has enjoyed a successful career as a journalist, from reporter to editor, in the print media ā€” during which he gained a Journalist of the Year award in his native U.K. He was diagnosed with MS in 2002 but continued working until mobility problems forced him to retire early in late 2006.

He now lives in the south of Spain and uses his skills to write his own flourishing specialist MS, health, and disabilityĀ website at www.50shadesofsun.com. Besides MS, Ian is also able to write about both epilepsy and cardiovascular matters from a patientā€™s perspective and is a keen advocate on mobility and accessibility issues.

Dan Says Treasure Your Caregiving Hero

Caregivers are in the spotlight during MS Awareness Month and, as it draws to a close, one man with multiple sclerosis is calling for everyone with the disease to recognize them. Dan Melfi, who lives in the…

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,…

Ocrevus: Counting Down to Expected FDA Approval

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 Genentechā€™s drug to be a promising therapy for relapsing MS and, significantly,…

#ACTRIMS2017 ā€“ MS Patientā€™s Pick of the Weekā€™s News

The ACTRIMS 2017 Forum is the source of my Pick of the Weekā€™s News as published in Multiple Sclerosis News Today. There is Increased Evidence Linking Viruses to MS Risk This evidence goes some way toward justifyingĀ my view, previously published, about connections between viruses and MS. In particular,…

Worry Less to Reduce Unnecessary Stress

Stress is like a light that turns on when you need it. But when you can’t turn it off, you run the risk of burnout, which can impact your health, according to the U.S. National MS Society. I often have said that I…

MS Society Award Nominations: We All Are Stars

Nominations are being sought for individuals and groups for the U.K.ā€™s MS Society Awards 2017. Organizers say the awards will recognize the stars of the MS community and their contributions during 2016. While not wishing to denigrate…

Phoebeā€™s HSCT Story: Back home (Last in a Series)

Phoebe Scopes was the first international patient to receive Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) therapy for multiple sclerosis in Moscow. In this fourth, and last, part of her story, we join Phoebe on her return home to the London. Ian: What is your post-HSCT MS state from getting home…

Phoebe Scopes, British HSCT Pioneer in Moscow, Part 2

Last week, I introduced you to Phoebe Scopes, the very first MS patient from another country to undergoĀ hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in Moscow. Today, in Part 2, Ā we pick up the story of the 46-year-old who lives in London. Ian: So, you had done lots of research. How…