April 26, 2024 Columns by Susan Payrovi, MD Why we should go with the flow of our biological clocks Whatās a reliable way to wreck your mood? Fighting your circadian rhythms. Iām a recovering night owl. I used to get more done between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. than I did in the other 20 hours of the day. I routinely studied past 2 a.m. during college and…
November 2, 2023 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Circadian rhythm of certain stem cells may offer treatment approach Targeting genes that control the daily activity cycle of cells that are responsible for repairing myelin in the brain and spinal cord may be a useful strategy for treating multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study shows. Findings also point to a potential link between myelin disorders such as MS…
July 22, 2022 News by Lindsey Shapiro, PhD MS Patients with Social Support Slept Better During Pandemic: Study Greater feelings of social support predicted better sleep quality in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) during the COVID-19 pandemic, a study shows. Specifically, greater help with daily tasks and more leisure activities with others were the types of social support identified, after adjusting for potential influencing factors, as…
November 12, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias I’m Sleeping Better These Days, but Why? I had a great night’s sleep the other night. I fell asleep quickly and slept straight through the night for nearly seven hours. When I got up in the morning, I felt refreshed, which is exceedingly rare these days. Plus, it even happened a few more times in the past…
August 26, 2021 Columns by Jennifer (Jenn) Powell When Restless Legs Syndrome Won’t Leave You Alone The light of the television screen illuminates the darkness. I want so much to sleep, but my body has other plans. After a hot shower and multiple medications, my legs continue to dance. The constant ache, twitch, and kick are a rhythmic routine. But my body is tired and…
May 4, 2021 News by Diana Campelo Delgado Restless Legs Syndrome More Common With Greater Disability, Spinal Lesions Restless legs syndrome, the name given to the considerable discomfort people feel in their lower limbs, accompanied by anĀ irresistible urge to move them, more frequently affectsĀ multiple sclerosis (MS) patients than the general public, andĀ significantly impacts sleep quality, a case control study shows. While the type of MS treatment used…
October 9, 2020 News by Steve Bryson, PhD Almost Half of US MS Patients Surveyed Report Using Cannabis for Nerve Pain, Sleep In a nationwide survey of cannabis-based therapy use among Americans with multiple sclerosis (MS), almost half of respondents endorsed such products, primarily for nerve-based pain and sleep disturbances, and the perceived benefits for sleep and pain were highly correlated.Ā The reported…
June 8, 2020 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News that Caught My Eye Last Week: Ofatumumab, Zeposia, Early Symptoms, New App FDA Extends Review of Ofatumumab for Relapsing MS to September The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was expected to make a decision about ofatumumab, a self-administered injection of a monoclonal antibody, by this month. Now, it looks as if we’ll be waiting until fall. Ofatumumab is already approved…
March 25, 2020 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD ‘Talk’ Therapy Helps with Insomnia and Fatigue in MS, Trial Suggests Cognitive behavioral therapy, a type of “talk” therapy, may help ease the severity of insomnia, fatigue, and anxiety in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), improving the quality of their sleep, data from a single-site trial suggest. The study āFeasibility and Treatment Effect of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia…
November 15, 2019 Columns by John Connor This Could Be the Last Time Fear grips me. Marijuana relaxes, eases pain, and helps my body work better. It also stirs paranoia, but only when you let it. In bed, a fretful waking dream. This is a problem when you actually have something to be paranoid about! I don’t remember all my last times…
January 16, 2019 News by Joana Carvalho, PhD Mindfulness Protects Against Depression, Anxiety, Fatigue, and Sleep Issues in MS Patients, Study Finds Mindfulness protects against depression, anxiety, fatigue, and sleep problems in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), improving their quality of life and overall well-being, a study finds. The study, “Longitudinal associations between mindfulness and well-being in people with multiple sclerosis,” was published in the International Journal…
October 19, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias I’m Too Tired to Write Tonight Please forgive me, but I’m too tired to write tonight. My wife had surgery last week, so I’ve been doing a couple of things that I haven’t done much in the 42 years since our wedding: shopping and cooking. (Well, making Harris Teeter ready-to-heat meals, that is. For…
October 4, 2018 Columns by Jennifer (Jenn) Powell MS-related Insomnia is Exhausting I do not sleep well. Ever. I have tried a myriad of meditations and medications, yet sleep evades me. It is 2:30 a.m. and infomercials are taking over the airwaves. My knowledge of everything Ginsu knives is overrated. (Pro tip: If you wait until the end they always offer…
September 21, 2018 Columns by John Connor A Pain in the Back, Part 2 Second in a series. Read part one. Last week,Ā I wrote about solving my back problems by purchasing aĀ mattressĀ topperĀ for my bed. It was a good thing, too, as I was going into the hospital for a lumbar puncture. It was as if I planned it; well, my…
September 14, 2018 Columns by John Connor A Pain in the Back, Part 1 First in a series. So this is what an earthquake feels like? Well, it wasn’tĀ that dramatic, but it was the middle of the night, and I’d been abruptly awakened to find myself lying at aĀ 45-degree angle. This took a bit of processing. The frame of our bed had broken!…
August 29, 2018 News by Jose Marques Lopes, PhD Poor Sleep Common in MS, Linked to Fatigue, Depression, and Anxiety, Study Reports Poor sleep quality is very common among patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) or clinically isolated syndrome (CIS), and is associated with a lower quality of life, and greater fatigue, depression and anxiety, according to a real-world study in patients treated with Betaferon (interferon beta-1b). The study, ā…
August 13, 2018 News by Jose Marques Lopes, PhD Treating Patients’ Perceived Stress and Poor Sleep Important as Both Fuel Depression, Study Reports Patients’ perceptions of stress and sleep quality are both linked to their sense of cognitive difficulties and depression, and focusing on these perceptions may be a way of treating depressive symptoms in multiple sclerosis (MS),Ā a study reports. The research, āPerceived cognitive deficits and depressive symptoms in…
April 6, 2018 News by Ana Pena PhD Online Meditation Course Seen to Help MS Patients Manage Symptoms in Clinical Trial Online training inĀ Ā meditationĀ based on mindfulness can improve the quality of life for multiple sclerosis (MS) patients while easing depression, anxiety, and sleep problems, a study conducted in Italy reports. These findings add to the growing body of evidence that interventions able…
March 22, 2018 News by Jose Marques Lopes, PhD Evidence Supports Safety, Effectiveness of Medical Cannabis in MS, Cancer, Other Diseases Medical cannabis is a safe and effective treatment for pain relief and should be integrated into current clinical practice, according to a new evidence overview. Benefits also include reducedĀ spasticity in multiple sclerosisĀ patients. The overview, titled āSpecial Issue: Cannabis in Medicine,” was published in the…
September 7, 2017 Columns by Laura Kolaczkowski #Sleeptember is Here! What better time of year to talk about getting good sleep than heading into the fall season, which is followed by the dark days of winter? Although we are not furry creatures who curl up in a cave to sleep through the winter, many of us wish we could do…
June 3, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD #CMSC16 – MS Patients Sleep Quality Improved with Exercise, Researchers Say Exercise might improve sleep quality in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a study presented at the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) 2016 annual meeting, June 1 – 4,Ā at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Md. The study, āThe Impact of…
January 8, 2016 News by Patricia Silva, PhD MS Patients and Caregivers Invited to Take Part in Meditation Study A new randomizedĀ andĀ controlled trial is recruiting multiple sclerosis (MS) patients to investigate the effect of a mindfulness-based telemedicine intervention program on patients and their caregivers. The clinical study’sĀ protocol was recently published in the journal Trials,Ā titled “A telemedicine meditation intervention for people with multiple sclerosis…