April 15, 2024 News by Andrea Lobo, PhD Kessler scientists using $700K grant to study primary fatigue in MS A team of Kessler Foundation researchers has been granted more than $700,000 by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society for work that seeks to better understand the brain networks associated with primary fatigue in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). The grant, totaling $722,602, was awarded to Glenn Wylie, PhD,…
March 3, 2023 Columns by Ed Tobias Let’s talk about MS fatigue and the effectiveness of treatment options Want to reduce your multiple sclerosis (MS) fatigue? Maybe we should talk about it. I’m talking about a fatigue treatment called cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which usually involves changing a person’s thinking and behavior. By talking with a therapist, sometimes on the phone, a patient develops an…
October 12, 2022 Columns by Beth Ullah How I’m Managing the Challenges of Study With MS Fatigue Just like a surgeon’s prize hand or a ballerina’s pliĆ©, my mind has been my most valued asset. That’s been true all my life, through realizing my passion for science, achieving my undergraduate degree in biomedical science, and even keeping myself sane during the dark days of paralysis following…
September 14, 2022 News by Vanda Pinto, PhD Higher Levels of MS Fatigue Linked to Poorer Cognitive Skills People with multiple sclerosis (MS) who report higher levels of fatigue are more likely to have lower performance scores in tests that evaluate cognitive skills, a study from Ireland suggests. Specifically, poor verbal learning abilities, visual-spatial memory, and information processing speed (IPS) were associated with higher levels of self-reported…
April 29, 2022 Columns by Ed Tobias Remembering My First MS Symptom What was your first MS symptom? Mine ā the one that made me realize something was really wrong ā was my inability to squeeze the toothpaste tube with my left hand one morning. Of course, there were earlier hints of trouble. I was unusually tired while attending a business…
April 20, 2022 Columns by Beth Ullah MS and Emotions: Pessimism vs. Realism in Life With Chronic Illness There is an ongoing difference of opinion between my husband and me regarding my general outlook on life. I consider myself to be a realist, whereas he thinks I tend to err on the side of pessimism. I’m an overthinker. I’ve always felt things incredibly intensely. Interestingly, when I read…
April 18, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Active Social Life Linked to Better Physical, Psychological Health Greater engagement in social activities and positive social support were associated with better physical and psychological health among people with multiple sclerosis (MS) in a recent study. These data “suggest that social integration and social support should be a crucial part of MS management,” the researchers wrote, adding that…
March 1, 2022 News by Mary Chapman Patient Experience Takes ‘Shape’ for MS Awareness Month From celebrating artistsā works to sharing stories that bring to life the experience of multiple sclerosis (MS), Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month is designed to call attention to this neurodegenerative disorder and the nearly 1 million U.S. residents itās thought to affect. MS can cause a host of physical…
August 30, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Ocrevus, Myelin Repair, Early MS Problems, Black MS Experience Summit Ocrevus Reduces MS Relapse Risk, But Linked to More Hospitalizations As you can see from the first two paragraphs of this story, these hospitalizations occurred most frequently in older people with MS. Yet, as these researchers point out, the criteria for selecting the people who participated in Ocrevus’ clinical…
December 4, 2020 Columns by Ed Tobias There Is No Magic Pill for MS Fatigue I’ve been tired all day, which is nothing new, as fatigue and multiple sclerosis go hand in hand. It’s been one of my primary symptoms since I was diagnosed in 1980. To counter it, I’ve taken Provigil (modafinil) for many years. Initially, taking 100 mg in the morning helped…
September 21, 2020 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Economic Impact Survey, Fatigue, DMTs National MS Society Launches Survey to Assess Economic Impact of MS We know that managing MS is expensive. It can cost us money out of our pockets and also limit our ability to earn that money. A small survey about this was the subject of my “MS Wire”…
June 12, 2020 Columns by Ed Tobias I’m Tired Again, and I’m Sure You’ve Been There Are you tired? Really tired? Me, too. Most of us with multiple sclerosis are. How many is most? A small new study of 44 people with one of the progressive forms of MS found that the answer is a little over 86%. (I’m surprised the number isn’t higher.) They…
June 5, 2020 Columns by John Connor Retirement: My Very Own Blackstar “At the center of it all” is the dignity of allowing myself to retire with grace. And it only took a world-shattering event to get me to come to my senses! I’d been running, directing, producing, and sometimes writing (usually when comics got desperate with a 15-minute deadline. We…
February 28, 2020 Columns by Ed Tobias MS Is a Rare Disease? I Think Not Feb. 29 is Rare Disease Day. It’s a day on which those in the rare disease community attempt to raise awareness about their diseases. I don’t think MS should be included. With about 2.5 million people worldwide in the MS community, I don’t consider it to be rare.
July 12, 2019 Columns by John Connor Eight Days a Week It was such a jam-packed week that the flavor was definitely multi-fruit! It included a meet-cute with a barber inspired by Richard Curtis (rom-com writer of “Notting Hill” and others). As no romance ā or indeed, bromance ā was involved, it was more of a meet-cut. I’ve…
April 2, 2018 Columns by Debi Wilson What It’s Like Constantly Living with Primary Progressive MS My column last week was a recap of my journey to a primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) diagnosis. This week’s column continues that theme by showing a glimpse of what it is like to live with PPMS on a daily basis. To say that having a disability like…
September 25, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye: Diagnostic Blood Test, Fatigue, New Trials and Stem Cell Therapy IQuity Taking Orders for RNA-based Blood Test That Can Detect MS Early with 90% Accuracy Can it be that there’s now a blood test that can help diagnose MS? This company says it has one and doctors can order it. For a disease that’s always been…
April 19, 2017 Columns by Ed Tobias A Rap Reply for a Guy Who Thinks MS is Too Perplexin’ I’m an old guy, and it’s been a looonnnggg time since I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. This, however, is not the case with BJ Baker. BJ is in his late 20s, and was having a very bad day. He was too tired to do a (seemingly) simple…
August 16, 2016 Columns by Ed Tobias Multiple Sclerosis Fatigue: Puzzling over the Jigsaw Feeling tired?Ā No surprise there.Ā Fatigue is as much a part of living with Multiple Sclerosis as sand is a part of the beach where I live. It’s interesting, then, that neurologists seem to have no good system for measuring levels of MS fatigue or any treatments that are…