March 18, 2024 Columns by Leigh Anne Nelson My nearly 20-year journey to get my diagnosis of MS Hi! Iām 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…
December 26, 2023 Columns by Mike Parker The perfect response: Endless support after my diagnosis of MS When my general practitioner first spoke about the possibility of a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) in February 2022, I walked out of his office. I broke down in tears; I was terrified. At that instant, my first thought was, “OK, so how long do I have left?”…
December 20, 2023 Columns by Mike Parker Struggles and successes in my first full year since my diagnosis of MS Where has the year gone? As we move closer to Christmas and a new year, Iāve pondered what the past 12 months of change have brought to my life. At the beginning of the year, I was working full time and still coming to terms with the diagnosis of…
December 8, 2023 News by Margarida Maia, PhD 5 conditions MS patients may have years before diagnosis ID’d: Study People withĀ multiple sclerosis (MS) are more likely to experience depression, sexual dysfunction, constipation, inflammation of the bladder, and urinary tract infection in the five years leading up to their diagnosis than those without the disease, a study found. These findings parallel growing evidence that there’s a prodromal phase, in…
December 6, 2023 Columns by Mike Parker To obtain an MS diagnosis, I had to overcome my MRI phobia Many years ago, I had an MRI scan on my right knee, and it didnāt go well. In fact, panic set in when I first looked at the scanner, as the tube seemed small. After I lay down and the operator started moving the table, I faced a…
November 17, 2023 Columns by Ed Tobias 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,…
November 16, 2023 News by Steve Bryson, PhD 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…
October 11, 2023 Columns by Mike Parker Dragged into my MS diagnosis, but now jumping for a cure: Part 1 Multiple Sclerosis News Today is chronicling MS advocate and podcaster Mike Parker’s journey leading up to a skydiving jump he’ll be making on Oct. 29 to benefit the MS Society U.K. Learn more about Mike at his website mikesmsjourney.com and click here to donate to his fundraiser.
July 11, 2023 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Research supports inclusion of optic nerve in McDonald criteria for MS Adding optic nerve damage ā reflected by a thinning of the nerve layer in the eye’s retina ā to the existing diagnostic criteria for multiple sclerosis (MS) was found to enhance diagnostic accuracy among people who had a single, MS-like event, according to a new study. The study “demonstrated…
March 9, 2023 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister An MS diagnosis can be confusing when it doesn’t fit your lifestyle A little over three years passed between my multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis and my medical retirement from the U.S. Army. Even before the diagnosis, I knew something was wrong and had taken a desk job while searching for the reason. Since I was behind a desk in a…
December 23, 2022 News by Andrea Lobo, PhD Bank Finances Innovative Diagnostic Platform for MS, Other Diseases The European Investment Bank has entered a financial agreement with Numares Health to support further development of a fully automated platform to improve the diagnosis of chronic diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). The loan of up to ā¬20 million (about $21 million) is expected to advance the…
November 29, 2022 News by Mary Chapman 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…
July 27, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Novel Machine Learning Technique May Help ID Tremor Specific to MS A new machine learning strategy was able to differentiate tremor specific to multiple sclerosis (MS) from tremor related to other diseases, with more than 90% accuracy, according to a new study. “The proposed method, with high classification accuracy and strong correlations of [tremor] features to clinical outcomes, has clearly…
July 14, 2022 Columns by Stephen De Marzo I Had to Make Difficult Business Decisions After My PPMS Diagnosis On Feb. 28, 2021, my wife and I visited the MS clinic where I was diagnosed with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS). After receiving this life-changing news, I was an emotional wreck. While touring the clinic, I saw a person in a wheelchair go into an exam room.
July 11, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Early MS Symptoms May Help Predict Diagnosis, Disease Course Some prodromal symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS) ā symptoms that are evident before the disease begins in earnest ā could help to predict the course of MS, a new study proposes. In particular, its researchers suggest that MS patients with prodromal depression are more likely to be diagnosed…
April 20, 2022 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD 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…
January 21, 2022 Columns by Jamie Hughes 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…
January 10, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Lemtrada, Music and White Matter, Diagnosing MS AB Science OKād to Start Masitinib Phase 3 Trial for Progressive MS Many of us with multiple sclerosis (MS) have been waiting for another treatment for progressive forms of MS. I hope this brings us another step closer to one. Masitinib is an oral medication that works by blocking…
December 17, 2021 Columns by John Connor 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…
November 24, 2021 News by Margarida Maia, PhD 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…
August 20, 2021 Columns by Jamie Hughes Celebrity or Not, You Matter to the MS Community Christina Applegate, star of classic ’90s films like āDonāt Tell Mom the Babysitterās Deadā and TV shows like āMarried with Children,ā announced last week that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at age 49. She didnāt share much beyond that, only that itās been āa tough roadā since…
July 20, 2021 Columns by Jessie Ace Finding Comfort in Unlikely Places: TV Medical Dramas I have a weird secret. Iām sure itās 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…
February 18, 2021 Columns by Jennifer (Jenn) Powell On Rare Disease Day, I’m Celebrating Being Extraordinarily Ordinary Rare ā adjective Not occurring very often; uncommon Unusually good or remarkable On Feb. 28, the world will celebrate international Rare Disease Day. A rare disease is one that affects fewer than 200,000 people in the U.S. Almost 7,000 rare or orphan diseases meet the criteria to be considered…
July 20, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias 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…
July 16, 2018 Columns by Debi Wilson 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…
March 15, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD People with MS, Especially Men, Likely to Have Other Chronic Health Conditions People newly diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) tend to also suffer from other chronic health problems, particularly depression, according to a Canadian study, that also emphasizes the importance of investigating whether the safety of MS treatments differs for these patients. “These findings are interesting for several reasons,” the study’s author,…
February 2, 2016 News by Margarida Azevedo, MSc 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 āwhite spotsā from similar brain lesions that corresponding to other conditions. Their article, āImaging central veins in brain lesions with 3-T T2*-weighted magnetic resonance imaging differentiates multiple sclerosis from microangiopathic brain lesions,ā was…