symptoms

A newly discovered potential biomarker of multiple sclerosis (MS) may help to distinguish between people who will go on to have less severe disease and those in whom the disease will progress, researchers at Linköping University in Sweden report. The biomarker’s discovery came through an investigation into the immune system of MS…

In MS patient columnist Teresa Wright-Johnson’s debut column on Multiple Sclerosis News Today, she introduces herself and discusses the pain and uncertainty of her diagnosis. She also shares how spirituality and reflection are leading her to overcome the diagnosis and move forward. Hello everyone! Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to share…

Preliminary results of a study in Danish patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) suggest that inverse comorbidity may exist in the MS population, lowering patients’ risk for other types of diseases. The results were given in an oral presentation, “Inverse comorbidity in multiple sclerosis. Findings in a complete nationwide cohort,” at the 32nd Congress of the European…

The presence of certain brain and spinal cord lesions can be used to predict if an MS patient with clinically isolated syndrome will progress into relapsing or secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) within 15 years. Researchers agree that knowing which patients who will rapidly deteriorate will help physicians tailor both…

Long-term observations together with mathematical modeling present a way of predicting the likely disability trajectory of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. The approach was outlined in a presentation, titled “Long-term disability trajectories in primary progressive MS patients – a latent class growth analysis,” given at the 32nd Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS), held in London…

A very full day of activities is planned for today at MS Life, inside London’s ExCel exhibition and convention center. Altogether, there are 15 presentations on the agenda. Three are in the MS Life theatre, and three more are in each of the following four zones: Managing my MS Symptoms;…

Interventions that aim to improve multiple sclerosis (MS) patients’ participation in physical activities need to take into account psychosocial constructs, such as their belief in their abilities and their expectations as to outcomes, in order to succeed. The finding, presented at the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS)…

Researchers found that blocking a protein, known as integrin alpha 8, may work to prevent inflammation in the central nervous system of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). The results were revealed in an oral presentation, “Integrin alpha8 is a novel mediator of T lymphocyte migration across the CNS barriers,” at the 32nd Congress of the European Committee…

Immune activity in brain membranes may be the key to determining inflammatory profiles in the brain. These profiles, in turn, are linked to levels of brain gray matter damage, and to disability, in both early and later stages of multiple sclerosis (MS). Researchers behind the study, which was presented during the Parallel…

Two presentations at the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) 2016 Congress, now underway in London, underscored the value of measures of neurodegeneration in the eye in predicting a patient’s future disability. Peter Calabresi with the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine opened the session with the presentation, “Tools for…

Immune cells, believed to drive autoimmunity, are selectively increased in the gut of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), along with lower numbers of cells controlling inflammation, suggesting that immune processes in the gut impact MS disease mechanisms. The study, “The role of gut immunity in multiple sclerosis patients,”…

A post on another website, asking about whether it was wise for someone with Multiple Sclerosis to receive the shingles vaccine, caught my attention the other day. “Have any of you had the Shingles vaccine? I’m still debating about it. I’m concerned about insulting my immune system…

In a recent talk, titled “Income and cognitive impairment among multiple sclerosis patients,” scientists investigated how cognitive impairment impacts the life of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), and reported significant differences in income that correlated with levels of MS-cognitive deficit. These findings were recently presented at the 32nd Congress of the European Committee for…

Genes that encode what are called “complement” immune factors are linked to the breakdown of the retina in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients — a measure that, in turn, predicts brain damage and loss of eyesight. The study, a joint effort between researchers from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine,…

The importance of getting a representative group of people, also known as subjects, engaged in  clinical trials cannot be understated. There is so much that we need to know when it comes to multiple sclerosis, but the picture cannot be complete unless the cohort of subjects includes people from…

Tripping, falling and bloody knees. Been there. Done that. (Who with MS hasn’t)? But this wasn’t me. This was Cheryl Hile and it was happening to her as she was running a half marathon in Carlsbad, California. Cheryl had been running marathons for half a dozen years when, in…

Early detection is very important for any disease diagnosis. With Multiple Sclerosis, it gives you the opportunity to start a treatment plan early that may help with slowing the progression of the disease. Symptoms of MS vary widely from person to person and can closely mimic other disease symptoms. Lesions don’t always…

MicroRNAs present in the blood show promise as potential biomarkers of multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study suggests. The study, titled “Comprehensive Evaluation Of Serum MicroRNAs As Biomarkers In Multiple Sclerosis,” was published by Keren Regev, MD, and colleagues in the journal Neurology. Human DNA contains…

Patients with a number of common conditions — some neurological and some autoimmune, but others not — are being mistakenly diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) because of difficulties in correctly determining this disease and, possibly, pressure to begin treatment early in the disease’s course, according to a recent study published in the…

When I first heard about MS “foot drop,” I assumed that the manifestation of this symptom would be a sudden and obvious inability to walk properly.  I knew many people with MS who used canes and walked with significant stiffness or a “dragging” limb. I filed “foot drop” away…

Scientists at Russia’s Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU) and Siberian State Medical University (SSMU), both in Tomsk, have developed a diagnosis system for neurodegenerative diseases in the early stages. The system uses virtual reality (VR) technology to immerse a subject in a virtual environment during functional tests designed to detect early symptoms of…

I love the water.  Good thing, since I live at the beach. Being in a swimming pool is also good therapy for my MS. It strengthens my core and arms and, when I do a little pool walking, my legs feel a bit stronger.  But, I’ve never done any…

Thinking has become my second job. Never have I had to put so much effort into gathering my thoughts or comprehending the world around me as I do with MS. To say MS has changed my life in so many ways is an understatement! Of all of my MS…

Many people voiced their concerns to me about anyone with MS moving to live in a sunny climate. That worry is understandable. With a disease that includes heat sensitivity, where even a hot shower can make you worse, how can any MS patient move to live in an area where…

To reach tissues infected with foreign agents, neutrophils, the body’s first line of defense, need to travel through vessel walls — and do so by switching on a class of adhesion receptors, called integrins, that bind to other adhesion molecules at the surface of the capillary walls. Now, in a recent paper published…

Multiple sclerosis patients are at risk of developing lymphopenia, or abnormally low levels of immune defense white blood cells, called lymphocytes, according to a study that investigated lymphocyte counts in people with relapsing MS both before and after the start of treatment. The study, “Lymphopenia in treatment-naive relapsing multiple…

The other day I received a very troubling direct message from someone on another Multiple Sclerosis website: “I was diagnosed with MS in 2004 but, foolishly, dismissed it. Other than bad spacisity [spasticity] and a few little episodes, I was relatively symptom free. That is until…

I knew of no available treatment options for my Primary Progressive MS, so when I heard about the pure High Dose Biotin Protocol I jumped on board! The protocol, created by MedDay in France, revolves around the vitamin Biotin (aka, vitamin B7 or H). It is recommended that the…

Being diagnosed with MS can be more than a bit of a shock at first. Yes, you finally know what you’ve got, what all those symptoms you’ve having mean, and you have heard what your neurologist told you. Well, you may have heard, but you didn’t take it in…

Multiple sclerosis seems to be less severe in people with higher levels of the minor adult hemoglobin variant A2 (HbA2) in their blood, according to a team of Turkish researchers. This could be due to this variant having a higher protective effect on the red blood cell membrane. The authors speculate that HbA2 could therefore be playing a role in reducing long-term neural injury in MS.