MS diagnosis

My nearly 20-year journey to get my diagnosis of MS

Hi! Iā€™m new ā€” not to having multiple sclerosis (MS), but to being a columnist. I’m a daughter, wife, mother of two young adults, dog mom, sister, aunt, friend, college professor, pharmacist, avid reader, nature lover, and an MS warrior. I was diagnosed with MS in 2014, although…

What I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving

It wasn’t a good morning. I was dragging my cement-pillar legs around the kitchen and grew frustrated as I lurched from the refrigerator to the counter to feed the cat and the dog. I’d propped my two canes against the counter, but they’d slid to the floor ā€” not once,…

Blood test for antibody clumps may support MS diagnosis

Measuring the amount of specific antibody clumps in the blood helped distinguish people with multiple sclerosis (MS) from healthy individuals and people with other conditions with an accuracy of at least 90%, a new study has found. The findings show that clumps of immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies ā€” which…

Pixyl, Brainomix Partner on MRI Software to Help in Diagnosis of MS

In a new collaboration, Brainomix will distribute in Europe a software solution developed by Pixyl that uses deep learning to improve the diagnosis and monitoring of multiple sclerosis (MS) via MRI scans. According to the partners, Pixyl‘s technology can detect abnormalities on magnetic resonance imaging or MRI…

New Imaging Techniques May Aid MS Diagnosis, Management

Physician-researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, in California, are developing brain and eye imaging techniques to improve the diagnosis and management of multiple sclerosis (MS). MS is characterized by the progressive loss of myelin, the fatty protective sheath around nerve fibers, in the brain and spinal cord due to abnormal…

Art for Our Sake

One of the great things about living in Atlanta is that there is always something new and exciting going on in town. Sure, we have our fair share of sporting events, but on any given night, you can attend a live concert, or see a show or stand-up performance. There…

Santa Is Not Cominā€™ to Town!

This is the fifth year I’m writing a Christmastime missive about how my MS journey as Santa is going since the disease mortally attacked my immune system. The trouble was that it took doctors ages to work out my diagnosis. Being Santa Claus, no MRI machine…

Mynd Tests MAP, Blood Biomarker for MS Diagnosis

Mynd Diagnostics is launching a clinical study to test the ability of a blood biomarker, which the company coined Mynd anti-inflammatory peptide (MAP), to help in the diagnosis and monitoring of multiple sclerosisĀ (MS). Starting in the first quarter of 2022, the company will collect blood samples from diagnosed patients…

Celebrity or Not, You Matter to the MS Community

Christina Applegate, star of classic ’90s films like ā€œDonā€™t Tell Mom the Babysitterā€™s Deadā€ and TV shows like ā€œMarried with Children,ā€ announced last week that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at age 49. She didnā€™t share much beyond that, only that itā€™s been ā€œa tough roadā€ since…

Finding Comfort in Unlikely Places: TV Medical Dramas

I have a weird secret. Iā€™m sure itā€™s not the norm for someone with a chronic illness to enjoy this as much as I do, but it always occupies my free time: I love medical dramas. They leave me enthralled with their technical and medical jargon, and their portrayal of…

Are These Diseases Early MS Warning Signs?

It’s not unusual to hear someone say, “I was diagnosed with MS in [fill in the year], but I probably should have been diagnosed five or 10 years earlier.” Now a study reports that during the five years before someone is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), it’s quite…

Is It an MS Diagnosis or Something Else?

I am told I have primary progressive multipleĀ sclerosis (PPMS), and my symptoms appear to be in line with that diagnosis. I continuallyĀ have a slow gait, leg weakness, balance issues, and fatigue. There is never a break from those symptoms. Intermittently, I have cognitive issues, slurred speech,Ā and burning…

Multiple Sclerosis Lesions Quickly Detected with New MRI Technique

Researchers developed a new way ofĀ using MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) to better distinguish multiple sclerosis (MS)-related ā€œwhite spotsā€ from similar brain lesions that corresponding to other conditions. Their article, ā€œImaging central veins in brain lesions with 3-T T2*-weighted magnetic resonance imaging differentiates multiple sclerosis from microangiopathic brain lesions,ā€ was…