July 22, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias Can MS, Medical Marijuana, and Guns Safely Coexist? It seems to me from my anecdotal observations that a fair number of people living with multiple sclerosis (MS) have a gun. When I wrote about the issue a few years ago, I discovered that more people than I expected had both a gun and MS. Additionally, many…
June 15, 2022 by BioNews Staff Expert Voices: Pain management for people with multiple sclerosis In this installment of our āExpert Voicesā series, Multiple Sclerosis News Today asked Dawn Ehde, PhD, to answer some of your questions about pain management for people with multiple sclerosis. Ehde is a clinical psychologist and professor of rehabilitation medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle, where…
June 10, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias Does Medical Marijuana Help the Pain That Comes With MS? Will your doctor approve you to buy medical marijuana (MMJ)? Two of mine will and one won’t. The doctor who won’t, a primary care physician who works within a medical group, told me it’s the group’s policy. The problem, she explained, is that there are no guidelines. How do you…
May 11, 2022 by BioNews Staff Expert Voices: Cannabis use in people with multiple sclerosis In this installment of our āExpert Voicesā 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…
March 23, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Scientists Review State of Cannabis Research in MS Treatment with cannabis-based medications may ease muscle spasms, decrease pain, and aid in sleep for people with multiple sclerosis (MS), but more research is needed to evaluate the potential benefits of cannabis use. That is the finding of a team of U.S. researchers who published a review paper,Ā “…
January 14, 2022 by BioNews Staff Expert Voices: Complementary and alternative medicine for multiple sclerosis In this installment of our “Expert Voices” series, Multiple Sclerosis News Today asked Allen C. Bowling, MD, PhD, to answer some of your questions related to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Bowling is an internationally recognized neurologist and integrative medicine pioneer with…
November 5, 2021 Columns by John Connor On the Healing Powers of THC I have to admit, Iāve wheeled down the THC path a few times before. Yes, I know itās very difficult to stay on the path when under the influence. Luckily, I’ve solved this problem by only imbibing in bed. I say imbibing, because for me, smoking the stuff is…
July 16, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias Using Cannabis to Treat Your MS? A Word of Caution People with MS who are using cannabis take heed: A research letter published in May in JAMA Network Open reports that calls to poison control centers about people intentionally or inadvertently using plant-based or processed cannabis products have been increasing over the past several years. Public health officials are…
September 23, 2020 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Medical Cannabis Lozenges Now Available for MS Patients in Texas People in Texas with multiple sclerosisĀ (MS) and other medical conditions now have access to cannabis-infused lozenges, Surterra TexasĀ announced. Under a Texas Compassionate Use Program, cannabis-containing therapies may be prescribed to help treat various neurological and other disorders, includingĀ terminal cancer, spasticity,…
August 14, 2019 News by Joana Carvalho, PhD US Agency Asked to OK Cannabinoid Shipments from Canada to Support Studies in MS, MMJ Announces MMJ International Holdings, a pharmaceutical company whose focus is plant-derived cannabis products for therapeutic purposes, has requested permission to ship tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) from Canada to the U.S. to be used in upcoming clinical trials for people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and Huntington’s disease. MMJ-001…
August 9, 2019 Columns by Ed Tobias 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…
August 8, 2019 News by Joana Carvalho, PhD Medical Marijuana Now Available to MS and Other Patients in Louisiana Medical cannabis products, jointly developed by GB Sciences Louisiana (GBSL) and the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center‘s (LSU AgCenter)Ā Therapeutic Cannabis Program, are now available for purchase by qualified patients with illnesses that includeĀ multiple sclerosis (MS) at nine state-licensed pharmacies. The decision, announced by the Louisiana Department…
February 11, 2019 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News that Caught My Eye Last Week: Marijuana and MS, MS Solutions Contest, MS Diagnosis Delays, Medicare DMT Costs Medical Marijuana āCan Help Everyone,ā Says Director at Maryland Cannabis Facility Keeping in mind that the person quoted in this article, Mr. Castleman, is growing medical marijuana to make money, I wouldn’t expect him to say anything else. On the other hand, I firmly believe that some forms of…
November 9, 2018 Columns by John Connor Medical Marijuana in the UK: So Near and Yet So Far As I’m writing this, my right arm is tight and my right hand is cramped up. I was out working last night and night work always shatters me the next morning when I awaken with exacerbated MS symptoms. Luckily, I never learned to be a copy typist when I…
August 30, 2018 Columns by Laura Kolaczkowski 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. Iāve 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…
August 23, 2018 Columns by Laura Kolaczkowski Using Medical Marijuana for MS Symptoms May Affect Your Employment Ohio, my home state, is wrestling with the nuances of medical marijuana laws that become effective on Sept. 8, 2018. My husbandās work email had an important notice from the Bureau of Workerās Compensation (BWC) about this pending change, and as I read it, I thought that nothing really…
August 13, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: MMJ Chewing Gum, Hair Loss, Botox for Bladder Problems, MS Progression Prediction Hair Loss Seen in RRMS Patients Using Aubagio Often Temporary and Mild, Study Says I read a lot of questions on multiple sclerosis (MS) social media groups from people who are worried about hair loss caused by their disease-modifying therapy (DMT). Aubagio (teriflunomide) is one DMT with…
July 13, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias Medical Marijuana Could Mean Trouble for Gun Owners I’ve written before aboutĀ medical marijuanaĀ (MMJ) and its use by those with MS. I’ve also written about how MS affectsĀ gunĀ ownership. This column is about both MMJ and guns. Thirty-one states,Ā plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam have legalized the use of marijuana for medical use.
May 22, 2018 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Thomas Jefferson University Opens Registry for Patients Using Medical Marijuana The Lambert Center for the Study of Medicinal Cannabis and HempĀ has launchedĀ mmj.org, an initiative to advance the scientific communityās understanding of medical marijuana and its derivatives through the creation of a comprehensive national patient registry. The Thomas Jefferson UniversityĀ center registry aims to enrollĀ 100,000 medical marijuana patients…
March 26, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News that Caught My Eye Last Week: Stem Cells, Sense of Smell, Cannabis Guide Blood Stem Cell Transplants Improve RRMS Patientsā Disability, Phase 3 Trial Shows Here’s yet another study that shows the benefits ofĀ autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, or AHSCT ā the procedure in which a patient’s own stem cells are harvested and used to rebuild the…
March 5, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News that Caught My Eye Last Week: Epstein-Barr Virus, Gilenya, Naltrexone, Medical Marijuana Epstein-Barr Virus Found in Brain Cells of Many MS Patients, Study Reports This study is yet another of several over the years that have suggested that there’s some sort of link between the Epstein-Barr virus and multiple sclerosis (MS). (Fatigue and muscle weakness are among the…
February 26, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News that Caught My Eye Last Week: Mediterranean Diet, Medical Marijuana, Ocrevus, Myelin Repair Pilot Study Is Testing Whether Mediterranean Diet Can Help MS Patients There’s been a good deal of news recently about the possibility that bacteria in our stomachs have an impact on our MS. There’s also been talk, for a long time, about whether certain diets can improve…
February 19, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News that Caught My Eye Last Week: Stem Cell Trial, Medical Marijuana, Myelin Repair, Tysabri Study Stem Cell Treatment Benefits Three-fourths of MS Patients in Phase 1 Trial This is encouraging news for MS patients hoping to see some action in the stem cell area. A Phase 1Ā mesenchymal stem cell trial is reporting positive results, and a Phase 2 trial is underway in…
January 29, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News that Caught My Eye Last Week: Medical Marijuana Gum, Brain Stimulation and Fatigue, Gilenya Study, Invisible Diseases Holland Approves Clinical Trial Plans for AXIMās Cannabis-based Gum for MS Pain and Spasticity Because the state where I live has only recently approved the use of medical marijuana, I haven’t had the opportunity to try it for my MS. From what I’ve read, various blends of…
January 22, 2018 News by Patricia Silva, PhD CannaMD Opens 2 Marijuana Clinics in Orlando Area for MS Patients, Others CannaMDĀ plans two medical marijuana clinics in the Orlando area toĀ evaluate patients for entry in the Florida Medical Marijuana Use Registry. The first clinic opened Jan. 17 in the suburb of Dr. Phillips; the second will open Jan. 25 in the Lake County town of Mt. Dora. CannaMD is a statewide…
January 15, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News that Caught My Eye Last Week: Rituxan, Medical Marijuana for Canadians, Extavia, Atira Trial Newly Diagnosed MS Patients Stay Longer on Rituxan Than Other Therapies, Study Finds This is a study that identifies which disease-modifying drugs new MS patients stuck with and which they gave up. And, why they made those choices. But the study is small and was limited to…
September 8, 2017 Columns by John Connor Disjointed: Living the New Netflix Sitcom I was going to write about something else this week and then … I got STONED! Those aren’t words I thought I’d ever write. I’d been a kid during the 1960s, but later on had duly done my literary homage by mainlining Jack Kerouac (yes, I know that…
August 17, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias Is Medical Marijuana Right for My MS? The state where I live has legalized medical marijuana (MMJ) and it’s getting ready to open state-licensed marijuana dispensaries. So, I’ve been thinking about using MMJ to treat some of my MS symptoms. How can MMJ help MS patients? A 2012 study by researchers at the University…
July 7, 2017 Columns by John Connor MS Pipe Dreams: Dealing with Urinary Tract Infections 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…
February 23, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD Brazil Allows HempMeds to Import RSHO Cannabidiol for MS Treatment The Brazilian government has authorizedĀ HempMeds Brasil, a unit of California-basedĀ Medical Marijuana, to import the parent company’sĀ hemp cannabidiol (CBD) oil flagship product ā known as Real Scientific Hemp Oil (RSHO) āĀ for the management of multiple sclerosis (MS) symptoms. This is the first time Brazil’s National Health Surveillance Agency…