Everyone’s multiple sclerosis (MS) is unique to them. The different disease types, lesion loads, and lesion locations are a few reasons why our symptoms are so variable. We with MS all live in the same neighborhood, just in different houses. If there were such a thing as…

Itaconate, a metabolite produced during cellular energy production activities, was found to restore the balance of immune T cells and reduce multiple sclerosis (MS) symptoms in a mouse model of the disease, a study reported. The common metabolite specifically suppressed the production of pro-inflammatory T cells while promoting the…

About one in five people with multiple sclerosis (MS) may be unfit to drive a vehicle due to disease-related difficulties, according to a review of published studies. Cognitive and visual difficulties were most frequently associated with impaired driving ability, both on the road and in a simulation. However, the…

Noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS) may be able to reduce fatigue, spasticity, and pain, and improve quality of life in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), a new meta-analysis reports. The review assessed several NIBS interventions targeting different brain regions. The results suggest that these techniques can have immediate effects…

Temperature variability and increasing exposure to airborne pollutants — both consequences of climate change — can worsen disease symptoms 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,…

There’s a poignant scene in “Forrest Gump” in which the title character and his best friend, Jenny, walk up to the shack where she was raised (and was raped and abused by her drunken father). She stares at the place for a moment and then begins hurling things…

I have to be honest: I haven’t always been honest. I don’t always practice what I preach. My wife called me out on that as we watched an interview I did recently about multiple sclerosis on Montel Williams’ podcast. “You should follow your own advice,” she told me.

I often see posts on social media from people with multiple sclerosis asking if crying for no reason is an MS symptom. It can be. Laughing for no reason can be, too. Both can be severe, persistent, unremitting, and unpredictable. The medical name for this is…

It’s been a year and a half since I was diagnosed with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS). I still have use of my limbs and am able to walk, albeit shakily, without a walker. My eyesight has not been affected, I drive, and am able to carry on a…

School started last week for our three kids. They got to see friends from the last school year, meet their new teachers, and sit at a new desk in their new classrooms. Per tradition, there was no homework assigned the first week, but they still brought home plenty of papers…

In its inaugural issue, a publication from The Gerontological Society of America provides information about recognizing and managing pseudobulbar affect — uncontrolled outbursts of crying or laughing that the authors say are one of the most “underrecognized and undertreated” symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS) and other neurological conditions. The…

If I were a superhero (or a supervillain, for that matter), I’d have an origin story. As it stands, I’m not even a minor hero in real life, and only a mediocre one when appearing in my own stories. I’m just a guy with multiple sclerosis, and all I…

EMBOLD Study of ATA188 in Progressive MS Is Given Go-ahead Is this another small step toward an MS cure? AT188 is an experimental therapy designed to kill cells infected with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). As you probably know, researchers have found a lot of evidence that EBV is connected…

The last few months have been a bit stressful, to say the least, and with the thousand and one worries and distractions I was facing, I couldn’t help but think of the opening lines of a William Wordsworth poem: “The world is too much with us; late and…

This news seems disappointing: A Phase 3 clinical trial of nabiximols — which is available under the brand name Sativex in several countries, including Canada and most of Europe — has failed to meet its primary goal of reducing leg spasticity in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Nabiximols…

Lower levels of income and education, as well as other socioeconomic factors, are associated with the presence and severity of fatigue among people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study in Norway found. Women, smokers, and those with other co-existing conditions or a higher disability level also were more…

In poker, a tell refers to a change in an opponent’s behavior or demeanor that may offer clues about the cards they’re holding. This could be a facial movement, an unusual breathing rhythm, an unconscious shift in body position, or a strange monetary bet. Recognizing a player’s tells may help…

Compared with living with multiple sclerosis (MS), the anxiety of what on water (Earth has always struck me as a misnomer as water comprises 71% of our planet’s surface) I’m going to write about next week is but a slight fluttering. Yer, yer, I know; underneath it’s…

When I turned 50 in 2013, I blew out the candles, and bam! I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I started seeing an endocrinologist and a neurologist, taking daily diabetic medications, and testing my blood sugar every day. At that point, I was not physically disabled in any…

Today’s youth have to accumulate a range of skills. Everything changes so fast. Parents often have no idea what career their kids even want to follow. Do you know what a UX designer is? Me, neither. This latest social change was revealed to me in a recent Guardian article,…

Cannabis ‘Highly Effective’ Against MS Symptoms, Some Users Report I would’ve expected many users to report that cannabis has been highly effective at treating MS symptoms, not just some. But comments about this study on the MS News Today Facebook page indicate that people have mixed results. Even…

What was your first MS symptom? Mine — the one that made me realize something was really wrong — 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…

No Link Between Herpes Infection and MS Risk in Genetic Study This is interesting because the Epstein-Barr virus is a member of the herpes family, and recently, a major study indicated a link between Epstein-Barr and MS. Yet, the study reported here concludes there is no link between herpes…

For the past few months, my wife, Laura, has been following a ketogenic diet, and she’s lost a bunch of weight. But in addition to helping people slim down, the low-carb keto diet may have other benefits, including potentially for those with MS. A small study that will be…

From celebrating artists’ 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 it’s thought to affect. MS can cause a host of physical…

Once upon a time, long, long ago, when I was very young, we British children would be asked, “What’s through the round window?” The line was from a TV series called “Play School.” The swinging ’60s may have been breaking in London, but culturally, this was the happening show…

“You know that place between sleep and awake, that place where you still remember dreaming?” — James Matthew Barrie Being diagnosed with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis significantly changed my perception of myself and the surrounding world. This drastic shift has been overwhelming and difficult to accept in many ways. The…

Fatigue management — whether through a symptom-specific self-management program or through general education regarding managing multiple sclerosis (MS) — may help people with MS in keeping fatigue levels stable in the long term, a recent study suggests. Indeed, the benefits of such programs were found to remain in effect…

I want to help in any way I possibly can. My lonely confusion in the early days after being diagnosed with aggressive relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis was mentally and physically paralyzing. However, this column isn’t about how “Hurricane MS” battered my body. Instead, it’s about why I chose to…

“You’re my summer that fades/ To these cold autumn days/ You’re my keepsake, my friend, and my fears/ You’re the strength that’s inside and I swear on my life/ I will always be there by your side.” — Amber Pacific Autumn has always been my favorite time of year. I…