December 8, 2022 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister Being Able to Laugh at Yourself Is Vital When Living With MS I had a glass of wine thrown in my face on the evening of my wedding anniversary. I was taken completely by surprise ā well, maybe not completely. After all, the person who threw it has a reputation for that sort of thing. I was pretty irritated, though, because a…
April 1, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias Dr. Glaucomflecken and Other Healthcare Jokers This column is being published on April 1. When I was in the journalism profession, that was a day we had to be on guard against pranksters who would try to trick us into reporting phony April Fools’ Day news items. So, I need to be very clear about this…
November 6, 2020 Columns by John Connor 45 Minutes in the Life of John Peter Connor I have two regular carers at the moment. The first to arrive greets me with her usual efficacious, “Good morning, John!” She’s loud enough to wake the whole street. Luckily, my neighbors should be up anyway, as my carers are booked for 11 a.m. each weekday. I have mentioned in…
June 19, 2020 Columns by John Connor All Quiet on the MS Front It hasn’t been that quiet in my surrounding world! Last week there was a crow fight so loud in our back garden that it echoed down the chimney into the front room that now is my bedroom. It sounded exactly like being in Hitchcock’s horror film “The Birds.”…
June 11, 2020 Columns by Jennifer (Jenn) Powell Laughter Is Good Medicine: Levity in an MS Life If laughter is the best medicine, then I have a functional pharmacy. I love to laugh and enjoy humor. If you are a friend of mine, then you know my dry wit. I use that wit to shield anxiety and fear. I ease the tension by creating humor. I…
April 10, 2020 Columns by John Connor Becoming Self-absorbed with MS During the Pandemic With everything being so awful, the goal is to write uplifting copy. OK, sounds like my sort of gig. One way of dealing with things is to become self-absorbed with the old MS. I think it’s getting jealous. How can a mere virus get all this attention? MS: “I’m far…
March 6, 2020 Columns by John Connor You Know Things Are Bad When the Banks Tell You to Wear a Mask I know the new strain of coronavirus is bad, but in the face of impending doom, I’m likely to find humor. Anyone who has had more aggressive disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) like Lemtrada (alemtuzumab)Ā and Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) likely has a compromised immune system. After all, this is exactly what…
March 15, 2019 Columns by John Connor The Antibiotic Time Loop-the-Loop Julian, the doorman at the London Comedy Store, is giving me his biweekly telling off about drinking. It’s biweekly because he and the other regular doorman, Mark, take turns helping me. I’ve known both of them for more than 30 years, though to be fair, in the…
September 11, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD MS Humorist Yvonne DeSousa, in GeneFo Webinar, Offers Tips on How Laughter Can Make You Feel Better Laughter really is among the best medicines when it comes to multiple sclerosis, says Yvonne deSousa, an MS patient, humorist and author who plans to share her tips on integrating humor into daily living, in a free webinar organized by GeneFo. The webinar, which will also discuss research into laughter therapy for MS, will take place Sept. 13 at 1 pm EST (6 pm in the United Kingdom). Scientists are increasingly aware that emotions play a crucial role in determine progression rates and outcomes of chronic diseases. This has led researchers to study how therapies including humor and laughter might contribute to improve patient's well-being. DeSousa, a native of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, has been nominated for a WEGO Health Hilarious Patient Leader Award. She promises to offer hands-on advice on how to āfind the funny, de-stress, and enjoy a good laughā despite the reality of living with a chronic and debilitating condition such as MS. The online lecture will also focus on the biology of how laughter can improve patient outcomes. Research shows that laughing affects immune and endocrinological processes, while increasing tolerance to pain. Laughter also counteracts anxiety and depression. These factors, deSousa pointed out, are all crucial in MS, and she should know. The comic has taken a humorous approach to her own illness from the start, and now runs a blog that recently made the Top 50 MS Blog list. She's also written a book ā called MS Madness ā on the topic. The webinar will also introduce a research project led by Dr. Theodore Brown that now seeks MS patients for a study of how laughter therapy affects mood, stress and self-efficacy. Researchers hope these types of studies will encourage doctors to incorporate humor-based practices into common care protocols for MS. Details of the research program will be shared with webinar attendees. Those wishing to participate in the free webinar ā and receive a video recording by email later ā can register by following this link.
August 21, 2017 Columns by Debi Wilson Humorous Moments Created by Life There are some pretty humorous things that can happen to me because I have multiple sclerosis (MS). Believe me, I understand living with MS and how difficult it can be to find the humor in anything about MS most days! But then, other times I can see the comical,…
January 20, 2017 Columns by Jamie Hughes Fighting MS on Our Own Terms: Vive La Resistance! Thereās one thing you need to know about my family ā weāre weird. We laugh at inopportune times. We can go entire days just speaking to one another in movie quotes. Sarcasm is a love language to my clan. And we can make just about anything ā and I…