Expert Voices: Cannabis use in people with multiple sclerosis

In this installment of our “Expert Voices” series, Multiple Sclerosis News Today asked Thorsten Rudroff, PhD, to answer some of your questions about cannabis use with multiple sclerosis. Rudroff is the director of the Integrative Neurophysiology Laboratory and an associate professor in the Department of Health and Human…

The World According to MS Ennui

Move along, move along. Nothing to read here. What a great start to a column! Last week, my worries about MS lifted as I was consumed by a glitch in my computer software. I’m pleased to report that I’ve found a whole series of admittedly fiddly workarounds. I’m even…

Using Marijuana and Having Surgery? Tell Your Anesthesiologist

If you’re using marijuana and have surgery scheduled, take heed. In Colorado, where medical marijuana was legalized in 2000 and recreational use in 2012, medical personnel are discovering that weed may complicate the surgical process. The concern, according to an article in Kaiser Health News, is that marijuana…

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 starting on Sept. 8. The law passed in 2016, and it…

Tricks of the Trade

I saw my neurologist a few weeks ago for what was effectively an emergency meeting. I’d had the customary two rounds of Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) and still had a relapse. We discussed weighty subjects and there seemed, surprisingly, to still be some hope. It depends on the outcome of an MRI;…

Cannabis Compounds Ease Spasticity in MS, National Academies’ Report States

Certain cannabinoids reduce spasticity symptoms in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, according to a report  from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that scrutinized published research about the benefits and hazards of cannabis and cannabinoid use. Cannabinoids also show proven effect in other areas that may be important to MS patients, but they are linked…

#CMSC16 – Lifestyle Factors and Unconventional Medicine in MS Care

A symposium focused on lifestyle factors and unconventional medicine as part of the clinical care provided to patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) took place today at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC). The symposium, “Expanding the MS Toolkit: Integrating Lifestyle Factors and Unconventional Medicine…

New Report Cautions Marijuana As Treatment For MS

Marijuana has been approved for medicinal purposes in a number of U.S. states, however it still remains a much debated issue according to the American Academy of Neurology.  New information has been released by ANN Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, PA.  This represents the largest gathering of neurologists globally. According…