April 2, 2024 Columns by Ahna Crum Learning to walk for the umpteenth time with multiple sclerosis Iāve lost count of the number of times Iāve had to relearn how to walk. Learning to walk is a milestone accomplishment. But as you age, life finds ways to knock you down. Injuries, sprains, or broken bones may keep you immobile while you’re waiting for your body to recover.
August 25, 2023 Columns by Ed Tobias My scooter, my grandkids, and a cave: What could go wrong? My wife, Laura, thought it would be fun to take our grandkids, ages 7 and 9, to spend a few hours exploring a giant cave. I wasn’t so sure. Ten minutes into the excursion, I was wondering which one of the adults would be hauled out in an ambulance. This…
August 25, 2022 Columns by Stephen De Marzo The Difference Between Living and Existing After My PPMS Diagnosis Itās been a year and a half since I was diagnosed with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS). I still have use of my limbs and am able to walk, albeit shakily, without a walker. My eyesight has not been affected, I drive, and am able to carry on a…
August 3, 2022 Columns by Beth Ullah Sometimes Pushing Boundaries With My MS Management Pays Off My brother is getting married in two weeks, so last weekend, I attended my future sister-in-law’s bridal shower in London. When it came to managing my relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) on the trip, I pretty much broke every rule I live by. Surprisingly, taking risks paid off for me, which…
July 6, 2022 Columns by Beth Ullah While Living With MS, Good Planning Is Key to Avoiding Chaos āWithout leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.ā ā Gloria Steinem For as long as I can remember, my father has always had a saying: “Perfect planning prevents piss-poor performance.” Much to my husband’s frustration, though, I’m still…
June 20, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Neural Sleeve Improves Mobility, Reduces Pain and Depression: Cionic Cionic‘s leg-worn Neural Sleeve, recently authorized in the U.S. to aid walking in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and other conditions that impair mobility, reduced foot drop in a small clinical trial. Patients in the trial also reported marked reductions in pain and mental health problems, according to…
May 27, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias Another Busted Cane Leads to a Search for Something Better A few weeks ago, my cane mutinied. I’ve been using canes for about 20 years ā first one, and then a pair. I’m tough on them and put a lot of weight on them. I take them out in the heat, cold, and rain. I force them to rest on…
May 6, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias An Accessible Cruise With Family, Canes, and a Scooter Was a Breeze It’s not easy going for a cruise when a scooter and a couple of canes come along for the trip. I’ve done it with success a number of times in the past, and planning helps a lot. My wife and I just returned from our first first cruise since…
April 29, 2022 Columns by John Connor The MSer Who Lay in Bed for 2 Years and Can Now Walk Again My column’s handle is “Fall Down, Get Up Again” because the first piece I wrote for Multiple Sclerosis News Today was titled “A Mountain to Climb with MS ā in My Living Room.” That column got me this gig five years ago. It was set in 2012, mind you,…
April 1, 2022 Columns by John Connor Old Friends, Broken Chairs, UTI Admissions, and Redemption The week started with a bang, albeit with a hint of underlying anxiety. Friends and former work colleagues gathered during the first days of spring to chat in my sun-lathered back garden in South London. COVID-19 lateral flow tests had all been passed. Previously, weād spent years working together on…
March 16, 2022 Columns by Beth Ullah The Visible and Invisible Reflections of MS Ā Ā Ā “Mirrors donāt lie. They only show a part of truth.” ā Lara Biyuts I’ve written about how my reality feels jagged compared with actual reality. I wrote, “The woman looking back at me isnāt whom I perceive myself to be.ā Iāve been pondering this recently. The realism of reality With…
March 11, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD FDA Clears Leg-worn ‘Neural Sleeve’ to Aid Walking Cionic has received authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market its lightweight, leg-worn Neural Sleeve to improve walking in people with multiple sclerosisĀ (MS) and other conditions that affect mobility. The decision comes four months after the company submitted the device ā the first to…
November 15, 2021 News by Mary Chapman Wearable ‘Neural Sleeve’ Counters Foot Drop, Aids Mobility in Study People in a Neural SleeveĀ gaitĀ study were reported to show an “average improvement” of 143% in foot drop, a common symptom ofĀ multiple sclerosis (MS) and other conditions that hinder mobility, its developer, Cionic, reports. The wearable ābionicā device ā which analyzes, predicts,…
October 1, 2021 Columns by John Connor Thanks to a Wheelchair Mishap, I Was ‘Busy Goin’ Nowhere’ I was tryin’ to find lots of things to do while being trapped at my desk because of a wheelchair mishap. Apologies for my adaption of Bing Crosby’s rendition of that happy-go-lucky song “Busy Doing Nothing.” I was trapped because at 8 p.m. last Friday night, the wire that…
September 3, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias With MS, a New Pair of Shoes Makes a Big Difference I wish I could walk a mile in my shoes, but even with a new pair, that’s not going to happen. My MS limits me to about 100 steps while using two canes and a functional electrical stimulation device strapped under my left knee. Because walking is so difficult,…
August 12, 2021 Columns by Jennifer (Jenn) Powell Next Time, Ask Me Why I Need an Accessible Parking Placard To the person who left the note on my windshield: I wish you would have asked. I would have told you that I have secondary progressive multiple sclerosis, a neurological disease that impairs my ability to walk. My MS has worsened over time and will continue to progress. I can’t…
August 6, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias Getting Something Off My Chest May I vent, please? In the five years that I’ve been writing this column, I don’t think I’ve ever used it to get something off my chest. But I need to today. It’s about an experience I had at a restaurant the other night. My wife and I went…
June 8, 2021 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD Robotic Exoskeleton Intervention Improves Motor, Cognitive Function Four weeks of robotic exoskeleton-assisted exercise rehabilitation, called REAER, worked better than conventional gait training in improving mobility and cognitive function in multiple sclerosisĀ (MS) patients with substantial walking difficulties, according to a small trial. A robotic exoskeleton consists of an externally worn device that encases a userās hips, back,…
May 28, 2021 Columns by John Connor This Fall Was a Real Eye-opener Well, this was a first. I’d fallen backward once in my power wheelchair. That was in the back of our mobility van. Hubris told me I could get away with just holding on to the handgrip for a few hundred meters. As ever, hubris was wrong! About six months…
January 22, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias Car Repairs Aren’t Easy When You Have MS I love the car I drive, but I’ve hated going to the dealer to get my car serviced. In the four decades that I’ve lived with MS, my walking has deteriorated to the point where I use a scooter if I have to walk more than 75 feet. If I…
December 16, 2020 News by Joana Carvalho, PhD US Patients Urged to Enroll in STEP for MS Trial Assessing 2 Exercise Programs Adults with mild to moderate multiple sclerosis (MS) are being urged to participate in a new clinical trial ā STEP for MS ā that will assess the impact of two different exercise programs on patientsā mobility, walking abilities, and quality of life. Funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research…
June 29, 2020 News by Vanessa Pataia AccessNow Wins Top ‘Novartis Innovation Prize’ for App That Aids Mobility NovartisĀ has awarded a total of $300,000 to two tech companies, honoring each for work done to improve the mobility and independence of people living with multiple sclerosis (MS). The top winner of theĀ Novartis Innovation Prize: Assistive Tech for…
June 12, 2020 Columns by John Connor So, Where Do I Start? Ah, it’s not the blank page that all writers fear that I’m worried about. Those days have long left me. Now it’s applying the discipline to stop! When I first started with a professional writing commission, I sat in the office all day with that fear freezing me. (Those were…
May 22, 2020 Columns by John Connor Short and Sharp 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 itās stopped me from standing! Transferring anywhere is now a nightmare. I have to use…
December 17, 2019 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Einstein Researchers Receive Grant to Study Brain Activity Related to Fall Risk in MS Patients A grantĀ awarded recently by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will fund research to explore how brain changes in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients affect mobility. The five-year grant (1R01NS109023-01A1), totaling $3.5 million, was awarded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of…
November 15, 2019 Columns by John Connor This Could Be the Last Time Fear grips me. Marijuana relaxes, eases pain, and helps my body work better. It also stirs paranoia, but only when you let it. In bed, a fretful waking dream. This is a problem when you actually have something to be paranoid about! I don’t remember all my last times…
September 13, 2019 Columns by John Connor Going Mobile, Part 2: I’m Powering Around the House Ah, the sequel. Back in April, I wrote about getting an electric wheelchair and then spending hours working out how to get it going. Six months later, I may have cracked the challenge of driving it without putting cracks in my house. When a district nurse visited last…
September 6, 2019 Columns by John Connor Under Pressure There’s always something. The trouble with a mĆ©lange of complex medical issues is that one good action often can lead to a bad secondary one. It’s like a game of consequences that unfortunately not only injures your psyche, but also leaves a mark on the body. In my case, it…
July 24, 2019 News by Steve Bryson, PhD Standing Frame Exercises Aid Lower Limbs of Progressive MS Patients, UK Study Says People whose advanced progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) limits their mobility can strengthen their lower limbs and improve life quality by engaging in regular standing exercises in their homes, a U.K. study into physiotherapy programs for this patient group reports. The study,Ā “Assessment…
May 31, 2019 Columns by John Connor A Wee Trip ā But Not Like in the Past I looked at the road, then west to the horizon. It was the Trans-Canada Highway. I was standing just outside Halifax, Nova Scotia. A 23-year-old intending to hitchhike the length of the Trans-Canadian to Vancouver. I’m English but knew this was a rite of passage for young Canadians.