living with MS

I was watching my son’s baseball game in the early 1990s when suddenly, my left eye went blurry and blocked my vision. It was a startling incident that lasted about two hours, and then it was gone. That was my introduction into the unpredictable world of multiple sclerosis…

In case you missed them, here are some news stories that appeared in MS News Today that caught my eye over the past week. Experts Call for Tighter Regulation of Stem Cell Therapies in Use at Clinics Worldwide I read a lot of comments on various social…

In a pilot study with patients with multiple sclerosis, high-intensity interval training combined with resistance training improved physical capacity and quality of life in a pilot study of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients — whether or not they were disabled. French researchers at the University of Strasbourg assessed physical capacity, strength and quality of life before the training started, and then again after completing a 12-week exercise program. They divided participants into two groups: one of 18 patients with no disabilities, and a group of eight with disabilities. Participants followed a personalized exercise program involving both high-intensity interval training — a kind of cardiovascular exercise strategy alternating short periods of intense anaerobic exercise with less intense recovery periods — and resistance training to improve muscular strength and endurance. Scientists used a French version of the Multiple Sclerosis Quality Of Life-54 test — a questionnaire filled out by MS patients to measure health-related quality of life — with five additional questions. After the exercise program, women improved significantly in vitality, general well-being and physical health composite scores in the quality of life assessment, while men showed no significant improvements. Vitality and general well-being only improved in the group with no disability. Peak oxygen consumption improved by 13.5 percent, and maximum tolerated power — a measure of maximum energy that can be expended — by 9.4 percent. Muscle strength increased in both quadriceps and hamstrings. Women showed better improvements than men in peak oxygen consumption, maximal tolerated power, strength in both quadriceps and hamstrings, and quality of life. Both groups showed increased peak oxygen consumption and strength. “Our study has shown that high-intensity interval training combined with resistance exercise training induced an improvement in physical capacity and quality of life. Moreover, this study allowed patients, irrespective of their sex or EDSS [Expanded Disability Status Scale] score, to resume exercise autonomously,” the team wrote. "High-intensity interval training is well tolerated too and can be used in clinical rehabilitation with resistance training, in both men and women with and without disabilities."

I have a co-worker who can meet someone and 10 minutes later know their life’s story. Heck, she even bonded with a woman who rear-ended her in traffic the other day. I admire this skill and strive to cultivate it in my own life, but it certainly doesn’t…

It's Wimbledon fortnight. The tennis signifies it's the height of the British summer. You usually can tell it's an English summer because it rains for two weeks. Not this time. It's baking hot and the hallowed grass can't handle it! If U.S. President Donald Trump is right and there is no such thing as climate change, the least he could do is supply the All England Tennis and Croquet Club with the formula for his resilient head of hair. Everything thrown at him does seem to just bounce off. It would make the perfect surface for these changing times. And what has this to do with MS? Well, it seems I've turned into Maria Sharapova. And, no, it has nothing to do with drugs or a penchant for wearing ultra short skirts! John Connor & Sean Meo having a smashing time. A friend was over who hadn't seen me in my natural habitat, i.e., at home, for a long while. "Is all that noise normal?" she asked my wife, "Is John in any trouble?" "No," my wife tersely explained, "That's what he's like these days!" I've found that heaving my lumpen carcass around is aided by a cacophony of grunts and groans. I can hear that it's not pleasant, but it is completely involuntary. I could move without making noise, but the sheer concentration needed would take mental resources away from maintaining balance. All pride goes before falling over! I live just a few miles from Wimbledon, but the only advantage this usually gives me is the knowledge if it's raining here, it's about to rain there. As a tennis nut, I can then get on with something else rather than watch it on TV. Getting tickets, unless you're willing to camp out in a queue for days, is nigh impossible. That is, it was, until I entered the wheelchair tennis fraternity. Somehow, I ended up on a database that puts me in a regular ballot for tickets. Don't get to go every year, but, hey, that's a lot better than not going at all! And last week, I was fortunate to get Centre Court tickets. If it had rained, unlike the other courts, it has a sliding roof, so the tennis rolls on unabated. Instead, it was a blistering day. Luckily, the wheelchair section is right at the top. The view is still excellent, but we were sheltered from the sun by the court's permanent roof. Previously, I've been on No. 1 Court, where the wheelchair area is superb. But I'd have been in direct sunlight. Five hours of that and I'd have wilted like a vampire. The added bonus at Centre Court was a disabled toilet only a few yards away and a concessions area nearby. We could get as many Pimm's cocktails as we wanted without queuing and missing game after game. The downside is that you are now fully aware of the exorbitant cost of the things: 8.50 pounds a go! We sipped, rather than guzzled, our way through the afternoon. My carer for the day was Sean Meo, a comic with whom I've worked for some 20 years. He is the most enthusiastic tennis fan I know. He also is a fitness fanatic and correctly has a low opinion of sugar. So, yes, I had to get my own ice cream! It was cheering to be physically close enough to get to the concessions area so that I could. The real bonus came at the beginning of the day. To get into Centre Court with a wheelchair, we had to go via the players entrance. The guard on the door said we had to wait five minutes because an "old lady" was coming down in the lift. It was Thursday of the first week; it couldn't be the Queen. We were only feet away from the "old lady" when she emerged, and she's aged well. It was Roger Federer.

Donna Edwards has multiple sclerosis. Edwards is currently unemployed. But a year ago she had a well-paying job with excellent medical benefits. Edwards was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. In fact, she represented the congressional district where I once lived. (Courtesy of former U.S.

People with multiple sclerosis have high levels of pro-inflammatory TH17 immune cells in their intestines that correlate with change in the micro-organism mix in their gut and the levels of their disease activity, a study reports. Researchers said the findings suggest that diet, probiotics and therapies that regulate TH17 cells could help treat MS. Probiotics are supplements containing beneficial bacteria. The study, “High frequency of intestinal TH17 cells correlates with microbiota alterations and disease activity in multiple sclerosis,” was published in the journal Science. Research has shown that TH17 cells, also known as T helper 17 cells, play a role in the development of MS. In fact, they were the first harmful immune T-cells to infiltrate the central nervous system, according to studies in animals Where TH17 cells become activated has been unclear, however. Studies in mice suggested it was mainly in the small intestine. Research has also indicated that their activation increases the potential for a person to develop an autoimmune brain disease like multiple sclerosis. An autoimmune disease occurs when the immune system, which defends the body against disease, decides that a person's healthy cells are foreign, and attacks those cells. Researchers decided to see if the findings in mouse models of MS applied to people with the disease. They discovered a link between higher levels of TH17 cells in MS patients' intestines and autoimmune brain problems. They also found a correlation between higher levels of TH17 cells and changes in patients' gut microbiome. The team then identified which bacteria were changing in the gut. Patients with increased levels of TH17 cells and higher disease activity had a higher ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes bacteria and more Streptococcus strains in their gut, particularly Streptococcus mitis and Streptococcus oralis. Previous studies have shown that these species promote TH17 cell differentiation in humans. Cell differentiation involves a cell transforming from one cell type to another — usually a more specialized type. This dramatically changes a cell's size, shape, metabolic — or fuel-burning — activity, and responsiveness to signals. Some studies have suggested a link between T-cell differentiation and brain autoimmune diseases. “On the basis of our findings, we speculate that, under certain conditions, or because of still unknown virulence factors, these Streptococcus strains can colonize the small intestine and favor TH17 cell differentiation in the human gut mucosa [linings],” researchers wrote. In addition to more Streptococcus bacteria, the team detected lower levels of Prevotella bacteria in MS patients with disease activity than in healthy controls or patients with no disease activity. This decrease may also promote TH17 cell differentiation because “Prevotella is capable of producing the anti-inflammatory metabolite propionate that limits intestinal TH17 cell expansion in mice," the researchers wrote. Overall, the team concluded that “our data demonstrate that brain autoimmunity is associated with specific microbiota modifications and excessive TH17 cell expansion in the human intestine.” The findings suggest that regulating TH17 cell expansion, along with changes in diet aimed at regulating intestinal linings, could be ways to help treat MS.

Editor’s note: This column is second in a series. Read the first part here. Just you wait! How many times have we heard those words or said them to someone else? I find that now it’s my turn to wait. What I’m waiting for is six months…

I live in the best place in the U.S. during the summer — the Pacific Northwest, with its temperate climate and easy access to nature and culture. Rarely do we experience heatwaves, and humidity levels run lower than in most places. We may joke that “it rains…

Patient questionnaires can be sensitive to signs of disease progression and worsening in neurological disorders like multiple sclerosis just as they are in other diseases, helping doctors to better predict clinical outcomes in patients, a study reports. Particularly, the study found that MS patients with higher scores on a specific disease questionnaire were nearly six times more likely to die within 10 years than those with lower scores, and that mortality risk also jumped among people whose scores rose on a second taking of same questionnaire. But the researchers cautioned that their study was not a tool for predicting mortality but a way to help patients be more active participants in their care. “Our research shows that by answering a set series of questions, patients can have an important role in predicting long-term prognosis in diseases like MS, and that these types of questionnaire should be used by doctors to get a better idea of the patient’s health,” Joel Raffel, study’s first author, from the Imperial College London, United Kingdom, said in a university news release written by Ryan O'Hare. “We hope that using patient-reported outcomes like these more and more will mean a shift towards empowering patients," he added. "They will be able to provide their own data, so rather than the doctor telling the patient how they are doing, it’s the other way around.” Among tools often used in the clinic are patient-reported outcomes; that is, questionnaires for patients that focus on their disease and treatment. But while these questionnaires have many uses, from screening for symptoms or evaluating treatment response to improving communications, they are often under-utilized when people have MS or other neurological diseases, "in part because it is not clear if PROs [patient-reported outcomes] relate to ‘hard clinical outcomes’ like disability or mortality," the team noted. Researchers wanted to determine whether the Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scale–29 (MSIS-29) — a 29-question survey assessing quality of life and disease impact over the previous two weeks — might serve as a way of predicting a patient's risk of death. The questionnaire was completed by 2,126 people, registered with the MS Society Tissue Bank in the U.K., beginning in 2004. Of these, 872 patients repeated it one year later. By 2014, the researchers reported that 264 of the original group of MS patients (12.4%) had died, and an evaluation revealed that MSIS-29 scores were associated with 10-year mortality risk regardless of age, gender, and disability score at the time the questionnaire was completed. Indeed, patients with high scores on the MSIS-29 questionnaire, indicative of a poor quality of life, were 5.7 times more likely to die within 10 years than those whose scores were lower. The mortality risk rose further among people whose MSIS-29 score worsened between the first and second year of answering the questionnaire. “Ideally, these questionnaires should be administered routinely, once a year in the clinic or online,” Raffel said. “This could help doctors to understand what issues the patients are facing and could also help to answer big research questions around prognosis and which of the available treatments we have for MS are working.” The team believes that questionnaire responses, together with usual clinical assessment tools like imaging data through MRI scans, could help doctors and patients choose the best course of treatment.

“O-cree-VUS,” I said, clearly and naturally into the headset. I had recently purchased the device for use with the voice-to-text software I need to type (MS, right-hand weakness, loss of finger dexterity and motor skills). “Okra bus” slowly appeared on my computer screen. It was late March, and I was working on my first column for Multiple Sclerosis News Today. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had just approved Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) for use in the United States, making it the only drug to receive the agency's blessing for treating primary progressive multiple sclerosis. It was a big deal — so big that even my friends and family were aware of the announcement. Naturally, I wanted to write about it. I tried again. “Oh-CREV-us,” I repeated. Clearly, yet naturally. I use Dragon for Mac speech-recognition software to write \. “Clearly and naturally” is part of the software’s mantra. “O Christmas.” “Ohhhh-creeee-VUUUS,” I said. Very. Clearly. Very. Naturally. “Okra vest.” The weakness in my right foot that led to foot drop began in the early 2000s. The weakness in my right hand didn’t present itself until late 2015. At first, I tried using Apple’s Scribe feature, largely because it was already installed on the Mac I had purchased that year, and also because Mac and Apple products are easy to use and intuitive … most of the time. Scribe seemed clunky, and the lag time between saying a word and Microsoft Word recognizing it and “typing” it was significant. At one time, I had written 5,000-word feature stories, time-consuming projects that demanded long hours of composition, editing, typing, and writing. I’ve written for so long that writing and typing and my fingers were woven together, a symbiotic relationship that I couldn’t fathom ending. Yet, it became clear that this was going to be a new hurdle (foolishly, one I hadn’t anticipated) and would require a different way of thinking about writing, of what I “do” in life, and in that way, of who I was versus who I am. By spring of 2016, it was obvious that my typing days were coming to an end, and I began using Dragon for Mac. (Full transparency: The folks at Dragon provided a review copy for me to try for free.) But I didn’t want to read the instructions for using Dragon. And I didn’t want to practice. I just wanted it to work, and I just wanted to be the “me” I remembered. As long as I was only writing short emails and could live with sketchy grammar, it was awesome. Drunk from my regained capacity, I began writing and sending emails to everyone for everything. The sobering reality that came with writing anything of substance or craft — hands-free — was equally spectacular. Slowly, I came to understand that Dragon (and all such software and, frankly, all such assistance for better managing my MS and helping myself) was no better than the effort I put into making it work. The people at Dragon asked if I’d write a review of the product, which you’ll find here. The short story is that Dragon is a dictation “robot.” It can format, and cut and paste, and carry out so many of the functions that we take for granted, or at least, once did. With time, commitment, and effort, Dragon learns users’ voices, and within reason, can get the job done even for longer, more complex composition. It even offers a “custom word bank” in which users may add frequently used words, like Ocrevus or ocrelizumab. But I hadn’t made the effort. “Oh-KRA-liz-ooh-MAB” I said, switching it up and hoping Dragon would finally recognize the word. “Oak Grove Missoula lab.” My deadline was looming and I could hear the clock ticking. Clearly and naturally, I screamed “OCREVUS!” into the headset. “Oh crap this.” At that moment I realized how valuable the software was and is. No, it didn’t get the spelling correct, but it did help make that first column possible and it did help me hang on to something I still find very valuable. And, in its own way, Dragon seemed to understand not just the word but also the context. “Oh crap this indeed,” I thought, smiling. And then Dragon and I finished my column.

My disability rights activism includes housing issues. Affordable housing gets a lot of attention (no solutions, but attention, at least). Accessible housing, not so much. Like the invisible symptoms of multiple sclerosis, the need for affordable ACCESSIBLE housing remains hidden. Accessibility needs to be part of the dialogue I…

It has been a busy few weeks. Well, when I think about it, every week is busy. There is always something that must be done. Just when I think things will slow down, my schedule lengthens. Admittedly, I am not a technology expert, so I rely on the…

A recent study has found that continued use of Ampyra (dalfampridine extended-release, sold in the U.S. by Acorda Therapeutics) by patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) lowers both inpatient hospital visits and overall healthcare costs. Results from the study, titled “Inpatient Admissions and Costs Associated with Persistent…

One of the earliest symptoms that appeared before my multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis was imbalance. I remember turning my head to look at something and feeling slightly off-balance. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but that wobbly sensation gradually increased through the years. Occasionally, I…

In case you missed them, here are some news stories that appeared in MS News Today that caught my eye over the past week. Younger MS Patients Who Are Hospitalized May Be at Higher Risk of Quitting Treatment, Study Reports   Why would young patients, whose MS is…

I’ve been considering writing about the fun, fun world of catheters. As this column is morphing into some sort of diary, let’s deal with this week’s medical procedural drama. Welcome to UTI (urinary tract infection) week. Anyone who uses a catheter is prone to a higher incidence of…

Genentech shared new insights into the workings of Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) and its effectiveness in reducing disease activity and slowing progression in relapsing and primary progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) at the recent 3rd Congress of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN). The new findings, previously reported here, built on analyses of information gathered during the three Phase 3 clinical trials assessing Ocrevus' safety and efficacy, as well as through monitoring patients in extension studies. The studies showed that nearly 40 percent of Ocrevus-treated relapsing patients and nearly 30 percent of primary progressive patients achieved NEPAD during the Phase 3 trials. In contrast, only 21.5 percent of those treated with Rebif and 9.4 percent receiving placebo achieved NEPAD — figures that demonstrate Ocrevus’ impact on patients’ lives, as well as Ocrevus’ ability to slow the decline in walking ability and other types of disabilities are comparable between patients with relapsing and primary progressive disease — data that demonstrate that the treatment acts on disease mechanisms that drive disability in both disease forms. How these effects play out in the long-term is the subject of ongoing research, as Genentech continues to follow these patients in an extension study. In addition, Ocrevus' prescription label strongly advises against pregnancy while on the treatment. Despite precautions, some women became pregnant during the trials. One of the meeting presentations narrated outcomes of these pregnancies; one healthy baby born at term and two ongoing pregnancies in women exposed to the drug. But while Genentech monitors women who become pregnant while on Ocrevus, the number of reported pregnancies is too small to draw conclusions about the treatment’s safety in pregnancy, and researchers do not know if Ocrevus also depletes B-cells in the fetus or in the baby born to a treated woman.

I’ve done it! I made the treatment switch that so many people with multiple sclerosis are talking about: I said goodbye to Tysabri (natalizumab) and am now on Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) as my disease-modifying therapy (DMT). I went through 56 monthly infusions (or maybe more, I’ve…

MS patients who start treatment at a younger age, and whose condition requires hospitalization, are more likely to stop treatment, a Canadian study reports. The research, published in the journal Dovepress, dealt with the main reasons Canadian patients quit first-line injected disease-modifying therapies, or DMTs. It was titled “Persistence to disease-modifying therapies for multiple sclerosis in a Canadian cohort.” DMTs can reduce MS activity, but patients must stick with them in order for them to be effective. “There is currently a paucity of clinical trial data on what happens to individuals when they discontinue DMT," the researchers wrote. "However, recent preliminary evidence from observational studies suggest increased relapses and disability in those who discontinue DMT." Researchers sought to identify MS patients at higher risk of discontinuing treatment. They looked at Manitoba Province's medical database to identify the types of drugs MS patients were taking, and for how long. The analysis covered 721 patients who received injected beta-interferons or Copaxone between 1996 and 2011, and whom doctors followed for at least a year. Teva manufactures Copaxone, whose generic name is glatiramer acetate. The mean age of the patients in the study was 37.6 years, and 74.2 percent were women. Researchers defined a discontinuation of a DMT as a 90-day or longer gap in treatment. A third of the patients were treated with beta-interferon-1b, either Bayer HealthCare's Betaferon/Betaseron or Novartis' Extavia. It was the first such therapy available in Manitoba. Twenty-three percent of patients received beta-interferon-1a, either Biogen's Avonex or Merck's Rebif. And 21 percent received Copaxone. The median time before a patient discontinued a DMT was 4.2 years. Although 62.6 percent of patients discontinued treatment at some point, 57.4 percent either reinitiated it or switched to a different DMT. Patients who were on DMT at least a year were more likely to stay with it than those who stopped in the first year. Importantly, patients who started a DMT at a younger age were more likely to stop taking it than older patients. “Our results are also consistent with previous work examining persistence for other chronic medication classes, including statins, antihypertensives, bisphosphonates, and oral antidiabetic agents, where the risk for discontinuing drugs declined in a linear fashion with age,” the researchers wrote. The team also found that 16 percent of patients had to be hospitalized overnight, with 3 percent of the cases due to MS-related complications. And these hospitalized patients were more likely to stop their DMT treatment earlier, the researchers said. Summing up, the team said: "Subjects who were younger when starting a DMT, had prior MS-related hospitalizations, were more recently diagnosed with MS, or had a greater lag time between their MS diagnosis and DMT initiation were more likely to discontinue therapy." Although "not all of the factors identified with discontinuing DMT" can be modified, "they may help practitioners enhance MS care by identifying individuals who may be at particular risk for DMT discontinuation," the researchers concluded.

Just when I thought I had experienced every multiple sclerosis (MS) symptom possible, another one emerges: sciatic nerve pain. It can happen to anyone, but it is also associated with MS. A couple of months ago, I woke up with a sharp knife-type pain on the upper back side…

I don’t normally go in for trends. For example, I don’t own a single pair of skinny jeans. I’ve never tried a Unicorn Frappuccino. I’m not on Instagram or Snapchat. I didn’t participate in the Ice Bucket Challenge. And I refuse to use the words “doggo,” “pupper,”…

So, I recently signed up to join a new and much closer exercise class. The previous drive of nearly an hour each way had proved to be beyond my range. Actually doing exercise when I got there seemed bonkers! But I haven’t been there as of yet ― my…

It’s been a little over six months since I completed Round 1 of my Lemtrada infusions, so it’s time again to ask myself, “How am I doing?” The answer: I’m not sure. For many years, my brain MRI has remained unchanged. I can’t remember the last time…

(Editor’s note: Tamara Sellman continues her occasional series on the MS alphabet with this first of two columns about terms starting with the letter “F.”) When it comes to multiple sclerosis, mastering an understanding of the disease means you need to mind your Ps and…

How can you care for your MS when a loved one is ill? You want to be able to care for others despite your own daily struggles. As unpredictable as MS is, what is predictable is that your life will be touched by the…

Last week, I shared details of Everyday Matters, a program by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. This self-directed, multi-week program uses the principles of positive psychology. The readings, lessons, and exercises need not be completed in a particular order, but I am going to start my exploration of…

Though my first brush with MS came in 2000 or so, I wasn’t diagnosed until December 2013 with primary progressive MS. Shortly after the diagnosis, I began scouring the internet for information about the disease and how to live with it. Sound familiar? I found…

Religion and spirituality are personal, delicate issues for many. Various schools of thought exist, and I haven’t the desire or the ability to deem one more important than the other. Writing about religious and spiritual matters is at times taboo in an often secular world. I can, however,…

During a routine exam with my neurologist recently, I asked her a question I’d never thought to ask before: “Why do you order regular MRIs of my brain, but not of my spine?” Interestingly, within a few days of my exam, a Harvard Med School study was…