February 17, 2020 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Number of People with MS in UK More Than Previously Estimated New data from Public Health England (PHE) and the U.K. MS Society show that the number of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) in the United Kingdom is now more than 130,000 ā about one in every 500 people living in the country. This is an increase of…
February 7, 2020 News by Iqra Mumal, MSc ‘Seeing’ Protein Density in Blood May Help in Early MS Diagnosis by Subtype, Work Suggests A way of detecting the density of proteins in the blood, called “magnetic levitation” or MagLev, may aid in more quickly diagnosing chronic diseases, including the particular type ofĀ multiple sclerosisĀ suspected in a person, the scientists who developed this method report. Plasma, the liquid component of blood, is composed of…
January 31, 2020 News by Ana Pena PhD FDA OKs Device to Monitor Blink Reflex, Potential Way of Detecting MS Early EyeStat, a portable device to measure blink reflex, has been cleared for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). On the heels of promising results for assessing brain injury, the manufacturer, Blinktbi, plans to test if the device can be used for the early detection…
January 29, 2020 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD New Imaging Agent of Myelin for Earlier MS Diagnosis, Myeliviz, Entering Clinical Testing TheĀ U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationĀ (FDA)Ā has agreed to allow Myeliviz, an imaging agent of myelin ā the protective layer that covers nerve fibers and isĀ damaged inĀ multiple sclerosisĀ (MS) ā to be evaluated in a clinical trial with healthy volunteers. Myeliviz, created byĀ Case Western Reserve UniversityĀ researchers, has the potential…
January 16, 2020 Columns by Tamara Sellman Need to Know: Blood Tests and Multiple Sclerosis Editor’s note: “Need to Knowā is a series inspired by common forum questions and comments from readers. Have a comment or question about MS? Visit our forum. This week’s question is inspired by the post “Is It a Multiple Sclerosis Diagnosis or Something Else?” from July 20, 2018.
January 7, 2020 Columns by Jessie Ace ‘DISabled to ENabled’: How I Lost Control of My Body āMy arm feels dead.ā Not the worst thing in the world, you would think. But what it meant changed my life forever.Ā Iām Jessie Ace, an English writer from Swadlincote, a town in Derbyshire. I titled my column…
October 3, 2019 Columns by Jennifer (Jenn) Powell The Journey to Self-love Is Long and Painful At 17, I began a 20-year odyssey with endometriosis. The doctor’s platitudes and disbelief were astonishing and leveled my sense of self. The findings of severe endometriosis served as a painful “I told you so.” My life became a whirlwind of physical and emotional upheaval. For a young woman,…
August 27, 2019 News by Ana Pena PhD Central Vein Sign Maintains Potential as MS Diagnostic Marker, European Study Shows Detecting changes to the brain’s central vein using common magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans is a useful and accurate strategy to enhanceĀ diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study shows. Analysis of more than 4,000 brain lesions, obtained from contrast-enhanced MRI scans collected from eight neuroimaging European…
August 23, 2019 Columns by John Connor Life Is Better with a Local MS Nurse I was struck down by sclerosis in 2006 ā literally. I was playing tennis and ran to return a drop shot. I never made it, but I did drop myself and rupture my right shoulder. It was so severe that it took two operations to rectify. The first few years…
August 15, 2019 News by Ana Pena PhD Specific Fats in Cerebrospinal Fluid of MS Patients May Be Telling Markers of Disease, Study Suggests Testing for the types of fat (lipid) molecules present in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) may be a very useful way to diagnose and monitor the disease, a study suggests. “MS patients present a different lipid profile at the time of diagnosis” than…
July 31, 2019 News by Joana Carvalho, PhD 3D Imaging of Brain Lesions May Spot Those Most Likely to Heal, Guiding Treatment A new diagnostic method for multiple sclerosis (MS) that uses 3D analysis of a patient’s brain may beĀ able to tell physicians which lesions there are more likely to heal with time and which are not, and as such could be a game-changer in treating the disease, according to the…
July 17, 2019 Columns by Stephanie Towler Talking to My Parents About My MS Diagnosis There is nothing worse than being diagnosed with a disorder that you know nothing about. While it was extremely difficult for me to take in, my parents also were affected. I had never thought about how my parents felt about my multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis and what I have…
July 11, 2019 News by Ana Pena PhD UK Researchers Pursuing Breath Test to Diagnose MS Scientists at the University of Huddersfield, U.K., are trying to develop a breath test to detect volatile molecules exhaled only by people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Doing so mightĀ offer a non-invasive and simple way to diagnose the disease. The research team now plans to undertake…
April 10, 2019 News by Ana Pena PhD MS Misdiagnosis Too Common, Puts Patients in Unnecessary Peril from Therapies, Study Reveals Nearly 18% of new multiple sclerosis (MS) patients referred to two speciality clinics in Los Angeles, California, had been misdiagnosed with the disease, according to a recent study. Most of them actually were affected by migraines, among other…
April 2, 2019 News by Joana Carvalho, PhD NeurologyLive Launches Series of Educational Videos About MS NeurologyLiveĀ has launched a series of educational videosĀ intended to provide an overview of the diagnositic methods and treatment options available toĀ multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. The video series, “Advances in the Diagnosis and Management of Multiple Sclerosis,” also will include future perspectives on upcoming MS therapies,…
February 15, 2019 News by Larry Luxner Newly Published NMSS Study Confirms Nearly 1 Million Americans Have MS Itās finally official: Around 900,000 Americans and quite possibly more than that have multiple sclerosis (MS) ā easily double the long-accepted figure of 400,000. Since MS News Today first reportedĀ on this finding in November 2017, the National Multiple Sclerosis SocietyĀ (NMSS) study, which reached that conclusion, has…
February 13, 2019 News by Santiago Gisler Almost 1 in 5 People Wrongly Diagnosed with MS at Two Specialized Centers in US, Study Finds Almost one in five patients diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) and referred to one of two MS-specialized centers in the U.S. were found to not have the disease, a study at those two centers reported. Migraine was the most common correct diagnosis eventually given these people. The retrospective study…
February 4, 2019 News by Jonathan Grinstein Gait Disorders and Depression at Onset May Delay Time to MS Diagnosis, Study Finds Awareness of certain symptoms, particularly gait disorders and depression, could be critical for reducing the time it takes to diagnose multiple sclerosisĀ after a patient first contacts a healthcare provider, research shows. In the past 30 years, there has been a major decrease in the time from the…
January 30, 2019 Columns by Mike Knight Ā My Progressive MS Moment of Truth āIf I were you two, I think Iād plan for the worst,ā Amy, my physiatrist, said to my wife and me as we sat in the examination room. It was just after 11 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 18. January has become one of two pivotal months in terms of…
January 2, 2019 News by Ana Pena PhD Acrolein Eyed as Potential Biomarker of MS, Preliminary Study Finds A product called acrolein, which is naturally excreted by the body and possible to measure in urine and blood, may be a potential biomarker to help diagnose and evaluate disease activity in people withĀ multiple sclerosis (MS),Ā according to preliminary research in animal models and humans. Researchers are investigating whether acrolein…
December 20, 2018 Columns by Jennifer (Jenn) Powell Reflections: A letter to my newly diagnosed self Last updated May 5, 2023 As the year comes to a close, I find myself in a reflective state. This mild nostalgia visits each December and accompanies me into the New Year. I usually honor this slight melancholy by thinking of all that has transpired in a mere 365 days.
December 19, 2018 Columns by Mike Knight My Year-end MS Zen Not long ago, I dreamed I was running. Again. It was the first time Iād had the dream in a while. It was always the same, āBeen Caught Stealing,ā or something like it roaring in my headphones, me in stride and rhythm with the…
December 11, 2018 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc WUSTL Team Receives $6.3 Million Grant to Develop PET Scan Tracers The Washington University School of Medicine in St. LouisĀ (WUSTL) will create a new research center to investigate and advance the development of tracers for positron emission tomography (PET) scans. The center, which will be established at WUSTLās Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology (MIR), is going to focus on the…
November 28, 2018 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc Artificial Intelligence May Help Reduce Dosage of Gadolinium in MRIs, Researchers Suggest Artificial intelligence can help reduce the amount of gadolinium used as a contrast agent in MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans, preventing the agent’s potential toxicity when accumulated in body tissue, including the brain and bones, each time it is used, researchers suggest. The finding is of particular importance for…
November 20, 2018 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD RRMS Diagnosed Most Often in Younger Women and PPMS in Older Men, European Study Reports Women withĀ multiple sclerosis are being diagnosed at younger ages and in greater numbers than men, except for those with primary progressive disease (PPMS), where men 50 or older tend to predominate, a European review study that looked at trends over several decades reports. The study āAgeādependent variation of female…
October 12, 2018 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc #ECTRIMS2018 – MS Patients More Prone to Health Problems Before, After Diagnosis, Study Suggests Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) are more likely to experience health problems before they receive their formal diagnosis, as well as to experience serious non-MS-related complications after diagnosis, a study reveals. The findings were reported in the study āIncreased risk of…
August 20, 2018 News by Diogo Pinto Ice Water Test Can Improve Bladder Dysfunction Diagnosis in MS Patients, Study Finds The ice water test, a tool used to evaluate the function of the bladder in patients with neurological disorders, was successfully used to identify undiagnosed cases of bladder dysfunction in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to researchers from Germany. The findings of the study, āIce water test…
August 14, 2018 Columns by Teresa Wright-Johnson The Reflection of Me: A Daughterās Tribute in the Face of MS The journey of chronic illness has taught me that our families are greatly affected by our illnesses. Spouses, parents, siblings, and many others can attest to their personal stories of loving someone who is chronically ill. My inspiration for this weekās column was a discussion I recently had with…
July 26, 2018 News by Iqra Mumal, MSc Machine Learning Platform Can Accurately Predict Onset of MS, Maker Says IQuity, a data analytics company, announced the launch of an analytics platform that uses machine learning to predict, identify, and monitor chronic disease within large populations of patients, including multiple sclerosis (MS). The platform was validated using a pilot study that assessed the healthcare claims of 20 million people…
July 26, 2018 News by Diogo Pinto Brain Changes in CIS Patients May Be to Blame for Depression, Reduced Quality of Life, Study Suggests Changes in the brains of patients with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS), the first clinical presentation of multiple sclerosis (MS), may be partly responsible for depressive symptoms and reduced quality of life in these patients, a study shows. The study with that finding, āHealth-related quality of life, neuropsychiatric…