June 27, 2019 Columns by Laura Kolaczkowski Could Shortened Infusion Times for Ocrevus Become a Reality? Users of the disease-modifying therapy Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) share a common complaint: the length of time the infusions take. It may seem petty, but an Ocrevus infusion consumes nearly an entire day. My typical infusion involves checking into the…
May 23, 2019 Columns by Laura Kolaczkowski MS Study Looks at Minimizing and Preventing Falls for Wheelchair and Scooter Users When I think of multiple sclerosis and falls, I tend to think about people who are upright and walking when it happens. I hadn’t considered the risks for people who spend most of their waking hours using a wheelchair…
March 28, 2019 Columns by Laura Kolaczkowski Is CBD Becoming Accepted as a Useful Product by the Mainstream? You know that the use of marijuana as a medicine and its derivative cannabidiol (CBD) is close to being widely accepted as a useful natural product when articles about its pain-relieving properties appear in Consumer Reports. Yes, I’m…
February 28, 2019 Columns by Laura Kolaczkowski Breaking Down the Silos in the MS Community In the research world, references to breaking down silos abound, and we’re not talking about those found on the farm. These figurative silos are where information is contained and not shared outside of a particular area. Researchers work…
January 10, 2019 Columns by Laura Kolaczkowski STEP for MS to Study ‘Telerehab’ Exercise Programs Exercise and multiple sclerosis are a natural pair and shown by research to be an important part of our MS care plan. We all can benefit from getting an assessment by a professional therapist and having an…
November 29, 2018 Columns by Laura Kolaczkowski iConquerMS, National MS Society Collaborate to Amplify Patient Voices I am excited and thankful to share with you a new collaboration between iConquerMS and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS). For several years, I have worked with the people at the Accelerated Cure Project (ACP),…
October 11, 2018 Columns by Laura Kolaczkowski Circumvention Tourism, Revisited In a previous column, I wrote about circumvention tourism, in which patients travel to another country to access a medical treatment that is unavailable in their home country. I wrote it in response to someone…
September 6, 2018 Columns by Laura Kolaczkowski Stem Cell Therapy and Circumvention Tourism Medical tourism is a term describing when people seek medical care by traveling from home countries to somewhere else. It’s an area of commerce that has existed for centuries, as people in ancient Greece once traveled to far…
August 30, 2018 Columns by Laura Kolaczkowski The Dilemmas Facing Medical Cannabis Prescribers Medical cannabis has created a dilemma for medical providers who care for people who might benefit from its use. I’ve been thinking more about this lately because my home state of Ohio will have legal medical marijuana dispensaries…
August 23, 2018 Columns by Laura Kolaczkowski Using Medical Marijuana for MS Symptoms May Affect Your Employment Ohio, my home state, is wrestling with the nuances of medical marijuana laws that become effective on Sept. 8, 2018. My husband’s work email had an important notice from the Bureau of Worker’s Compensation (BWC) about this pending…
August 16, 2018 Columns by Laura Kolaczkowski Getting Out, Despite the Crowds Last week, my husband and I attended an outdoor concert in a small venue that we used to regularly attend just a few years ago, before my MS affected my mobility. Our last concert there was two years…
November 30, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister Is multiple sclerosis everywhere, or am I just more aware of it now?