October 27, 2023 Columns by Ed Tobias Drawn back to the Sunshine State, where my MS symptoms feel better I’m back in my happy place. My wife, Laura, and I, along with our Yorkie-poo and our Maine Coon cat, have made it back to our Florida home after 16 hours and about 1,000 miles of driving over two days. There were no traffic jams, we had a comfortable motel…
August 23, 2023 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD Brain stimulation may offer promise for spasticity in MS: Study Noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS) may offer promise for treating spasticity in multiple sclerosis (MS), but more work is needed to identify the best approach to use for patients, according to a new review study. The studies under review generally indicated that a type of brain stimulation called repetitive…
May 23, 2023 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Cannabis oral spray nabiximols found to ease spasticity in MS Treatment with the cannabis oral spray nabiximols helped to relieve spasticity ā increased muscle stiffness and spasms common in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) ā among participants in two MS clinical trials, according to the results of a new analysis. “In this analysis, nabiximols was shown to significantly…
January 19, 2023 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD 65% of Patients Discontinue Therapy Baclofen Within a Year in Study About 10%-20% of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) receive baclofen to control their spasticity, but up to half of patients stop the medication in the first six months, a large Swedish population-based study shows. The high rates of discontinuation suggest baclofen has “a low success rate of…
September 16, 2022 Columns by John Connor All Quiet on the MS Front ā Well, Nearly Note: The second half of this column details digestive symptoms that may make readers uncomfortable.Ā In the five years that Iāve written this “irreverent journey with multiple sclerosis (MS),” quoting from my very own bio at the foot of this column, I think Iāve only covered this “quiet”…
July 21, 2022 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister A Friend Under the Skin: My Intrathecal Baclofen Pump In my last column, I mentioned that I had an intrathecal baclofen pump. Iād make a bad pun, but I donāt have it in me. Spasticity, spasms, and hyperreflexivity were some of my first symptoms, which steadily got worse as my multiple sclerosis (MS) progressed.
July 2, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias Sativex Study Reports Positive Results in People With MS Could a cannabis spray be just what the doctor ordered to treat our MS symptoms? I’m talking about Sativex (nabiximols), which has been developed as a treatment for moderate and severe MS spasticity. Sativex combines THC, the chef intoxicant in marijuana, with CBD, marijuana’s nonpsychoactive component. It’s sprayed…
March 28, 2019 Columns by Laura Kolaczkowski Is CBD Becoming Accepted as a Useful Product by the Mainstream? You know that the use of marijuana as a medicine and its derivative cannabidiol (CBD) is close to being widely accepted as a useful natural product when articles about its pain-relieving properties appear in Consumer Reports. Yes, I’m referring to the nonprofit magazine that provides unbiased ratings on products…
February 28, 2019 Columns by Tamara Sellman Need to Know: What Is Gait? Editor’s note: “Need to Know” 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 topic “How Do You Manage MS-Related Balance Issues?” from…
February 5, 2018 Social Clips by Mike Knight MS Spasticity and You: Five Stretches You Should Try (and Why) An estimated 85 percent of people with MS experience some type of spasticity due to the disease, according to a recent report (p/w) published in Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders. Why is that important? Because spasticity is behind many of the diseaseās most debilitating physical, emotional and mental…
August 21, 2017 Columns by Debi Wilson Humorous Moments Created by Life There are some pretty humorous things that can happen to me because I have multiple sclerosis (MS). Believe me, I understand living with MS and how difficult it can be to find the humor in anything about MS most days! But then, other times I can see the comical,…