symptoms

EyeStat, a portable device to measure blink reflex, has been cleared for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). On the heels of promising results for assessing brain injury, the manufacturer, Blinktbi, plans to test if the device can be used for the early detection…

Age, gender, disease subtype, degree of disability, and more factors affect lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) among patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Also, the epidemiology of LUTS must be better understood and promptly detected and treated to improve patients’ quality of life. Those findings are detailed in a new study, “…

I am living with an unenviable reality. An antibiotic-resistant, hospital-acquired infection that I developed two decades ago has reappeared. Before my multiple sclerosis diagnosis, I had a spinal cord stimulator implanted for pain control. Although the stimulator was removed shortly afterward, the infection remained. This infection presents itself when…

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) who complete training through a method called the modified Story Memory Technique (mSMT) show a decrease in brain activity after training, which could indicate more efficient brain processing, a recent study shows. The study, “Brain activation patterns associated with paragraph…

Have you ever wondered how some people seem to be able to do so much in a day, despite having some type of ailment, while others seem to be unable to do much of anything?  This is something I have thought about for a long time.

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 post “Is It a Multiple Sclerosis Diagnosis or Something Else?” from July 20, 2018.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system mistakenly attacks the protective coating that surrounds nerve fibers and helps them function. Damage to this protective coating, called myelin, means the nerve fibers are fragile and easily damaged. MS in children, or pediatric MS, is…

Blocking a protein called PAR1 may enhance the regeneration of myelin, the protective fatty layer that covers nerve fibers and is damaged in multiple sclerosis (MS), a mouse study shows. Therapeutic targeting of PAR1 may promote remyelination and delay MS progression, according to the study, “Blocking the Thrombin Receptor…

My nose started running about a week before the sledgehammer hit. Then came a chesty cough, not yet as serious as the one that had my wife wheezing, but I was worried that I’d soon catch up with her. I didn’t…

Prospective memory — the ability to remember to carry out a future task — is significantly impaired in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, and may contribute to worse cognitive performance for everyday tasks, according to recent research. The study “Time-Based Prospective Memory Is Associated with Functional Performance in Persons…

Small changes in daily activities, like sitting less and walking more, may be healthful for people with multiple sclerosis (MS) without the challenges of formal exercise. A new study, “Management of multiple sclerosis symptoms through reductions in sedentary behaviour: protocol for a feasibility study,” published in BMJ…

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 two forum topics about silent inflammation from August 2019. Have an experience you want…

A signaling protein (Smad7) that usually blocks the activity of a molecule called transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) appears to be overactive in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), leading to the activation and migration of immune cells from the intestine to the central nervous system, a study reports. The study,…

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 “Are urinary tract infections a reoccurring problem for you ?” from Feb.

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) — both with and without cognitive impairments — have trouble processing sensory information, which is linked to greater disease severity and difficulties in daily life, a study reveals. The study is one of the first to look at the consequences of sensory processing deficits…

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 “Are you still driving? Should you be?” from Dec. 27, 2018. At…

It is 2 a.m. and I am awake. I sit on the couch with my head in my hands. The leg pain that broke my slumber is now extreme. I have taken my medications, used my topical, and applied heat. All to no avail. Exhaustion meets pain as my eyes…

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…

People with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) have poorer neurite density — a measure that relates to the amount of nerve cell projections, including axons and dendrites involved in nerve-to-nerve communication — in the brain and spinal cord than do those without this disease, a study shows. This measure, especially…

I didn’t file a column last week due to medical reasons. It’s a perfect excuse for a patient columnist — we don’t need a dog to blame for eating our homework. The multiple sclerosis dog is more than happy to put us on the floor; in my case, even three…

Two potassium ion channels located at gaps between segments of myelin are required for high frequency and high-speed conduction of electrical impulses along myelin-rich nerves, a study shows. Loss of the workings of these potassium channels in what are called the nodes of Ranvier slowed nerve conduction, and impaired the sensory response of a rat. These findings suggest that similar problems with these channels may exist in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). The study “TREK-1 and TRAAK Are Principal K+ Channels at the Nodes of Ranvier for Rapid Action Potential Conduction on Mammalian Myelinated Afferent Nerves” was published in the journal Neuron. Myelin, the fat-rich substance that wraps around nerve fibers (axons), works to insulate and increase the velocity of the signals relayed by nerve cells. Gaps between segments of myelin, or nodes of Ranvier, also work to amplify these signals. Nerve impulses must travel and arrive at relay points extremely quickly for effective connection and communication between brain regions. Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) showed for the first time that the nodes of Ranvier have potassium channels that allow the myelinated nerves to propagate nerve impulses at very high frequencies, and with high conduction speeds. This is key for fast transmission of sensations and rapid muscle control in mammals. The nodes of Ranvier were first discovered in 1878 by the French scientist Louis-Antoine Ranvier. Later research, dating from 1939, showed that they work as relay stations placed along myelinated nerves — about 1 millimeter apart — for proper conduction of nerve impulses at rates of 50 to 200 meters per second. Between these nodes, the nerve is wrapped in myelin. When the nerve fires, the electrical impulse travels along the nerve (called action potential) from one node to the other at a speed 100 times faster than that of impulses in nerves lacking myelin. Neuroscientists know that ions crossing the membrane of nerve cells are required to fire electrical impulses along nerves, but whether potassium ion channels were present in the nodes of Ranvier remained a matter of debate. No one had been able to use patch clamps — a technique that allows recording of whole-cell or single-ion channel currents flowing across membranes — to the nodes of the small intact nerves in mammals. UAB researchers led by Jianguo Gu, PhD, worked with a rat and identified two ion channels, called TREK-1 and TRAAK, as the main potassium channels in the nodes of Ranvier of the rat’s myelinated nerve. Most importantly, they showed these ion channels allow high-speed and high frequency conduction of nerve impulses along the myelinated afferent nerves — those carrying information from the sensory organs (like the eyes or skin) to the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord). TREK-1 and TRAAK channels were highly enriched — 3,000 times higher — at the nodes of Ranvier in afferent nerves than in the nerve cell’s body. When the scientists removed (knocked down) these channels, conduction speed in the rat's nerve dropped by 50 percent, and the rat's "aversion reaction" to its whisker being flicked was slower. "TREK-1 and TRAAK are clustered at nodes of Ranvier of myelinated afferent nerves," the researchers concluded, and "suppressing these channels retards nerve conduction and impairs sensory functions." Increasing evidence shows that dysfunction in the nodes of Ranvier are present in neurological diseases, including MS. Whether autoantibodies (antibodies that attack the body’s own tissues) target the TREK-1 and TRAAK to affect nerve conduction, leading to sensory and motor problems such as those seen in MS, remains to be investigated, Gu said in a UAB news release written by Jeff Hansen.

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 “Grey Matter Atrophy in MS Shown to Follow a Pattern” from July…

About 65% of patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) will progress to a second stage of the disease called secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS). People with SPMS often have a variety of symptoms that can lead to a roller coaster of emotional changes. Here are some ways to…

Secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) is a stage of multiple sclerosis (MS) that follows relapse-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Not all RRMS patients will progress to SPMS, but those who do usually do so around 15 years into their disease. Neurological examinations are necessary to confirm a transition to…

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 “MS Lesions and Silent Inflammation” from Aug. 16, 2018. Have an experience you…

A joint analysis of 83 studies, involving 3,000 people, concluded that there is “scarce evidence” to say that the use of medicinal cannabinoids — chemical compounds in the cannabis plant — is able to improve mental health conditions. However, the use of pharmaceutical tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) may lead to…

Topics related to the use and effectiveness of cannabidiol (CBD) and medical marijuana are of increasing interest to many people, including those with multiple sclerosis (MS). A web-based survey hosted by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, with results published in 2017, indicated that as many as…

Physical symptoms and poorer coping mechanisms are major risk factors for unemployment in younger and older people with multiple sclerosis (MS), while psychological problems have the greatest impact in middle-aged patients’ unemployment, a study suggests. These findings highlight that unemployment risk factors vary with age and call for interventions…

Exposure to UV-B light prevented multiple sclerosis (MS)-like symptoms in a mouse model regardless of the presence of vitamin D or the vitamin D receptor, a new study discovered.  The study, “UV light suppression of EAE (a mouse…

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 “Do you experience memory loss? Do you feel it is due to MS?”…