living with MS

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…

A new digital tool aims to help people with multiple sclerosis (MS) deal with the emotional burden of their diagnosis, guiding them to focus on what matters most in their lives rather than the pain of living with MS. The self-help tool, named ACT MySelf, was developed by…

“At the center of it all” is the dignity of allowing myself to retire with grace. And it only took a world-shattering event to get me to come to my senses! I’d been running, directing, producing, and sometimes writing (usually when comics got desperate with a 15-minute deadline. We…

Icometrix launched a new digital platform, icompanion, to help people with multiple sclerosis (MS) track their disease and understand MRI scans. The platform, currently available in English, French, German, and Dutch,  consists of a phone app for patients and a web-based dashboard to help clinicians track patients and…

May 30 was World MS Day 2020, an annual initiative for the MS community worldwide to unite. The Multiple Sclerosis International Federation created this global campaign to educate, raise awareness, and offer hope. Its free, online resources provide an abundance of helpful information. Fittingly, the theme for World MS…

Zeposia (ozanimod), a newly approved oral capsule treatment for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), is now commercially available in the United States, its manufacturer, Bristol Myers Squibb, announced. “We are pleased to now bring Zeposia, an important new once daily treatment option, to [relapsing]…

How are you? These three words are ingrained in our vernacular. The question is often asked as a kind gesture, a greeting of sort. Are we truthful in our inquiry, and are we genuinely interested in how someone is faring? The intent of this week’s column is to explain the…

As I sit down to write this week’s column, it’s hard for me to concentrate. I’d planned to write about new MS mobile apps, but I can’t get my brain to focus on the task. I’ve been bragging about how I’ve been feeling sharper and able to concentrate better the…

Editor’s note: “Need to Know” 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 forum post “Number, Location, Size of Lesions on MRI Can Predict Progression to MS,”…

“I am fine.” Three words I know as rote. I say them frequently and without hesitation. I utter them as much for others as I do for myself. My reality is too much for most. At times it is too much for me. This packaged response is almost expected. And…

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, there are many ways to participate in World MS Day 2020 on May 30, set aside to raise awareness about the neurodegenerative disorder that affects more than 2.3 million people globally. Organized by the MS International Federation (MSIF), the event brings together the global…

Higher blood levels of the neurofilament light chain (NfL) protein at diagnosis are predictive of worse disability over time in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a large population study from Sweden suggests. The study, “Plasma neurofilament light levels are associated with the risk of disability in…

There’s something we need to address, right here, right now. Not all of you will like it or agree with what I’m about to say, and that’s OK. I need to get this off my chest, so here it goes.  I hear so many people with…

Higher Risk of Vascular Disease Among MS Patients in the UK, Population-based Study Reveals You’d think that people with multiple sclerosis (MS) would be likely to have vascular disease due to the sedentary lifestyles many of us lead. But this large, lengthy study that looks at the records of…

The Multiple Sclerosis Association of America (MSAA) is opening its resources to people with multiple sclerosis (MS) during COVID-19, including a webinar series on the pandemic and easier access to its support programs, the association…

The last few months have been interesting for obvious reasons. All of our routines have been toppled over like a stack of blocks, things that were once mundane now feel alien, and getting back to “normal” (whatever that looks like) still feels as far away as the horizon. But I…

This column will be short as I am quite ill. That’s nothing too unusual for those of us with MS. Oh, the joys of a relapse. A while back, it stopped me from walking. Now it’s stopped me from standing! Transferring anywhere is now a nightmare. I have to use…

For a comprehensive support app developed for multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, RxMx and Roche have won the Patient Engagement Innovation Award from Medtech Breakthrough. The fourth annual awards program recognized top health and medical technology products and companies. Healthcare company RxMx and pharmaceutical company Roche collaborated to produce…

Editor’s note: “Need to Know” 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 forum post “Need advice about CBD oil,” published on Nov. 1, 2018. Share your…

People in the United Kingdom (U.K.) with multiple sclerosis (MS) have an increased risk of vascular disease affecting the heart and brain that is not accounted for by traditional disease risk factors, a large, population-based study reports.  The study, “Evaluating the Risk of Macrovascular Events and…

“You can’t say that!” Screams erupted over our Zoom chat resulting in infectious laughter. Admittedly, it was rude, too rude to mention, especially considering the unexpectedness of who said it.  Fun and laughter are what’s keeping us all going right now.

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) and other neurological diseases have a significantly higher aluminum content in their brains than those with no known neurological impairment and no identifiable neurodegenerative disease, a recent study found. The research further supports a role of aluminum in the development of these brain conditions,…

Healthcare providers should encourage everyone with multiple sclerosis (MS) to engage in regular exercise and keep physically active, new guidelines based on an expert panel convened by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society recommend. They also suggest different types of exercise applicable to people at varying levels of disability.

Hi there. It’s me, typing again on my very ownsome! For the last two weeks, I’ve been too ill to manage, so my wife kindly acted as a secretary — another of her many talents! I apologize for last week’s rather gruesome outing, but trying to stick to…

Editor’s note: “Need to Know” 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 forum post “Is your MS Invisible or is it obvious?” published on Feb. 15,…

Music is a spiritual experience. I love music in all of its forms. I grew up being serenaded by parents harmonizing everything from the Phi Gam fight song to Peter, Paul and Mary. After crucifying the clarinet, I played the piano until my late teens. I have fond memories of…

People with progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) have faster and disease-modifying therapy (DMT)-resistant retinal atrophy (thinning), compared to those with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), a study shows. Data also highlighted that the thickness of deeper layers of the retina could be used as potential biomarkers of neurodegeneration in…

A patient registry of multiple sclerosis (MS) among veterans of the U.S. military has been created to allow for better clinical management of these people and to inform future research. The registry is described in the study “…

I hate needles. Being told I’d need to do injections was the worst news ever, second only to my diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.  Sitting in the neurologist’s office with my husband, Paul, was terrifying. I was 22 and newly diagnosed with…

Sativex (nabiximols) eases spasticity-associated symptoms in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, including those with no significant improvements in a validated spasticity scale, according to a large study from Italy. The findings support previous studies suggesting that spasticity scales may not be enough to evaluate patients’ responses to Sativex and to…