March 4, 2024 News by Marisa Wexler, MS ACTRIMS 2024: Most patients relapse-free after 6 years on Zeposia About two-thirds of people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) remained completely free from relapses over six years of treatment with Zeposia (ozanimod) in the DAYBREAK clinical trial. Most also saw no sustained disability progression during that period and the mean number of new or enlarging lesions…
February 23, 2024 News by Margarida Maia, PhD Most MS patients stay relapse-free 6 years after stem cell transplant About 4 in 5 people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) who receive a stem cell transplant remain free of relapses for at least six years, and this may translate into being able to get back to work, a small study from Norway suggests. The study, āAutologous hematopoietic…
November 17, 2023 News by Margarida Maia, PhD COVID-19 not linked to increased MS relapse rate: Meta-analysis COVID-19 doesn’t appear to increase the likelihood of a relapse, where new symptoms suddenly appear or existing ones worsen, for people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a meta-analysis of more than a dozen studies. The findings alleviate some of the concerns MS patients may have about developing COVID-19,…
October 26, 2023 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Psychological resilience found to link relapse fear, life quality in MS A patient’s ability to cope with and recover from adversity ā called psychological resilience ā was found to impact the observed relationship between fear of relapse and life quality among people withĀ multiple sclerosis (MS) in a new study. Essentially, MS patients who had…
July 3, 2023 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD Cigarette smoking slows recovery after an MS relapse, study finds Cigarette smoking significantly slows recovery time from a relapse for people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), according to a pilot study in Iran. Similar links with relapse recovery were not seen for tobacco use with water pipes or exposure through second-hand smoke, also known as passive smoking. Findings add…
January 17, 2023 News by Margarida Maia, PhD MS Relapse, Worse Disease More Likely for Smokers: New Study People withĀ relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) who are receiving oral disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) are still more likely to experience a relapse or any form of disease activity if they are smokers, a study found. Researchers also observed that former smokers had a disease…
January 13, 2023 Columns by Ed Tobias MS Flares, Relapses, Exacerbations: How Much Do You Know? “I was told I’m in a flare-up,” a newly diagnosed person with multiple sclerosis (MS) wrote to a Facebook group the other day. She said the flare-up had been going on “for a while now” and wondered when she could expect it to calm down. After I pondered…
November 23, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Climate Change Risk to MS Patients: Worse Symptoms, More Relapses Temperature variability and increasing exposure to airborne pollutants ā both consequences of climate change ā can worsen disease symptomsĀ and risk relapses in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a recent review study. Unwanted effects of environmental change were also linked to a number of other neurological conditions,…
October 25, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Risk of MS Activity After DMT Stop Greater With RRMS, Younger Age Note: This story was updated Oct. 31, 2022, to correct that in the six months after treatment discontinuation, relapses were reported in 18.8% of RMMS patients and 3.5% of those with SPMS. When multiple sclerosis (MS) patients stop their disease-modifying treatment, the risk of relapses and disease activity on…
September 14, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Inflammatory Brain Lesions Often Don’t Match Relapse Symptoms More than half of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients in a small study had active inflammatory brain lesions during a relapse, even when relapse symptoms occurred outside the brain, in areas including the spinal cord or optic nerve, researchers in Spain reported. Less than half of the patients with…
September 9, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Immunoadsorption Better Than 2nd Round of Steroids for MS Relapse A type of blood-cleansing process called immunoadsorption worked better than a second round of methylprednisolone for treating relapse in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients who failed to respond to a first, standard cycle of the corticosteroid, a study found. Among people with relapsing MS, immunoadsorption also was associated with…
August 10, 2022 Columns by Beth Ullah How Paw-fect Pets Improve Life With Chronic Illness Having grown up in the countryside, I’ve been around animals my entire life. We always had dogs and cats, and I learned how to ride horses. It was tranquil and storybook. When I left home to take a trip or attend university, I experienced a void only the animals in…
July 13, 2022 Columns by Beth Ullah Fighting Fire With Fire: The War Between Lemtrada and My MS āSo can you lift me up/ And turn these ashes into flames/ ‘Cause I have overcome/ More than words will ever say.ā ā Kate Voegele My relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosisĀ (RRMS) diagnosis stole my life from me. The reverberations of this unwelcome thunderbolt were astounding. Coming to terms with a…
July 8, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Levels of Certain Inflammatory Proteins May Predict Risk of Relapse Levels of certain inflammatory proteins in the cerebrospinal fluid, the liquid around the brain and spinal cord, may help predict the risk of relapse activity for individuals with early multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study found. High levels of three such proteins were predictive of a greater risk of…
December 1, 2021 Columns by Beth Ullah I’m Climbing the Hills of Adversity, Just Not in Heels āShoes are the quickest way for women to achieve instant metamorphosis.ā ā Manolo Blahnik As the holidays approach, I’m reminded to be thankful for what I have. I was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) at 26 years old, and when I became paralyzed, I thought I’d never…
October 6, 2021 Columns by Beth Ullah I’ve Had Both Good and Bad Outcomes With Methylprednisolone for Relapse I am having an MS relapse, my first in three years. In the first two years after I was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS in early 2017, I relapsed every two or three months. It got to the point that I couldn’t tell where one relapse began and another ended.
August 3, 2021 Columns by Jessie Ace The Beginning of the End: A Reminder to #StayENabled Itās with a heavy heart that I write this.Ā I donāt want to, but I have to do what’s right. This will be my last column. Lately, things have been crazy busy for me, with a mix of expected events, such as moving to a new home, and a few unexpected…
July 27, 2021 Columns by Jessie Ace Focusing on What I Can Do Rather Than What I Can’t This year, Iāve been acutely aware that my body isn’t perfect. Sometimes it doesnāt move well. Sometimes it cuts off sensation in my limbs without notice. Sometimes it gets wiped out from fatigue. Sometimes itās like MS shakes up my head so hard, like a can of soda, that I…
April 20, 2021 Columns by Jessie Ace Can Hypnotherapy Help Me Find Myself Again? Recently, Iāve been struggling through an MS flare. I have been numb, mostly from my neck down, which is reminiscent of my first relapse eight years ago. Numb and slightly weak hands make it extremely difficult to draw.
July 24, 2020 Columns by John Connor The Joy of Joining the ‘Downton Abbey’ Set For an espoused leftie, you might be surprised that I’ve always had the brush of the rugged individualist about me. Not quite Bear Grylls, but grabbing a rucksack and hitching across Canada still counts as my own youthful rite of passage. I was used to doing everything! As…
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…
May 29, 2020 Columns by Ed Tobias Am I Having an MS Relapse? As I sit down to write this week’s column, it’s hard for me to concentrate. I’d planned to write about new MS mobile apps, but I can’t get my brain to focus on the task. I’ve been bragging about how I’ve been feeling sharper and able to concentrate better the…
November 21, 2019 Columns by Tamara Sellman Need to Know: MS and Drowsy Driving Editor’s note: “Need to Knowā is a series inspired by common forum questions and comments from readers. Have a comment or question about MS? Visit our forum. This week’s question is inspired by the forum topicĀ “Are you still driving? Should you be?” from Dec. 27, 2018. At…
July 2, 2018 News by Diogo Pinto Common Air Pollutants Not Linked to MS Development, Canadian Population Study Reports Long-term exposure to three common air pollutants ā fineĀ particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone ā were not found to be “convincingly” linked to incidence ofĀ multiple sclerosis (MS)Ā in a large population study conducted in Canada. The study, āLong-term exposure to air pollution and the incidence of multiple sclerosis: A…