September 10, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias MS Paralympian Aims for a Bull’s-eye Lia Coryell says she wanted to die. According to The New York Times, after fighting COVID-19 last winter, Coryell 56, was hit with heart and kidney failure, pneumonia, and shingles. This was in addition to living with progressive…
September 3, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias With MS, a New Pair of Shoes Makes a Big Difference I wish I could walk a mile in my shoes, but even with a new pair, that’s not going to happen. My MS limits me to about 100 steps while using two canes and a functional electrical stimulation…
August 30, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Ocrevus, Myelin Repair, Early MS Problems, Black MS Experience Summit Ocrevus Reduces MS Relapse Risk, But Linked to More Hospitalizations As you can see from the first two paragraphs of this story, these hospitalizations occurred most frequently in older people with MS. Yet, as…
August 27, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias I’m Trying a Different Medication, Myrbetriq, for My Urinary Issues I’ve had pee problems for as long as I’ve had multiple sclerosis. Many folks with MS have issues, including urinary urgency, frequency, or both, bladders that don’t empty completely, or streams that don’t start when you need to…
August 23, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Ocrevus, Probiotics, Floodlight App, Sativex in UK Trial Will Test Ocrevus on Arm, Hand Function in PPMS A lot of the focus in MS treatment and clinical trials is placed on walking ability. It seems to me that only recently has…
August 20, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias Do People With MS Need a 3rd Vaccine Shot? Now that a third COVID-19 vaccine shot has been approved in the U.S. for immunocompromised people, and vaccine boosters are expected to be available to the general public sometime after Sept. 20, Walgreens and CVS have lost…
August 16, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Mavenclad, Sativex, Mistreatment, Patient Survey Trial Will Test Mavenclad for Advanced Progressive MS I often think that researchers have forgotten about people whose MS has progressed to an advanced stage. But MS patients who have moved into a wheelchair…
August 13, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias Can Special Diets or Vitamin Supplements Ease My MS Symptoms? Can I survive without dessert? Can I live without ice cream, chocolate, and fruit pies, or with only a small amount of beef when I want a burger? The other day, my wife decided to start the ketogenic diet…
August 9, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: COVID-19, High-dose Biotin, MS Diets, Tysabri Risk of Severe COVID-19 Not Raised by Immunosuppressive DMTs Here’s the latest on whether disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) raise the risk of a person having a bad case of COVID-19 if infected with the novel…
August 6, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias Getting Something Off My Chest May I vent, please? In the five years that I’ve been writing this column, I don’t think I’ve ever used it to get something off my chest. But I need to today. It’s about an…
August 2, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Stem Cells, Home Infusions, Hippocampus FDA Greenlights Stem Cells Trial Aiming to Improve Quality of Life I’m pleased every time I see stem cell research being approved. Hopefully, this will move us closer to approval in the U.S. for…
July 30, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias Could BTK Inhibitors Be the Next Big MS Treatment? Is orelabrutinib one of the next big MS therapies? Biogen is betting at least $125 million that it is. Orelabrutinib is an experimental oral BTK inhibitor (BTKi). BTKi’s are designed to selectively block an enzyme that’s important for…
July 26, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Mavenclad, Genetic Risk, Fatigue Impact, Multivitamins Skin Reactions ‘Frequent’ With Mavenclad, Real-world Study Finds I regularly see people posting on social media about having a rash or itchy skin, or losing hair while taking Mavenclad. Researchers in this study say…
July 23, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias It’s Not a Crime to Ask for Help When You Need It “Do you need help?” The question came from a 30-something woman after I’d finished loading some cartons into the back of my SUV. I automatically replied, “No thanks, all done.” But lifting and loading isn’t an easy job for…
July 19, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Orelabrutinib, MS Stress, Selma Blair Biogen Strikes Deal for Orelabrutinib, Now in Phase 2 Trial BTK inhibitors, such as orelabrutinib, are designed to selectively block the activity of an enzyme important for the activation of B-cells and microglia. Some of those cells drive…
July 16, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias Using Cannabis to Treat Your MS? A Word of Caution People with MS who are using cannabis take heed: A research letter published in May in JAMA Network Open reports that calls to poison control centers about people intentionally or inadvertently using plant-based or processed cannabis products have…
July 12, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Sativex, IMU-838, Ibudilast, Supercomputer Sativex Eased MS Spasticity as an Add-on Therapy A reader in Belgium told me he has used Sativex for a couple months. He reported no dramatic improvements in his symptoms, but he said the…
July 9, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias Don’t Let MS Stop You From Grandparenting My grandson, John, turned 5 in May, and my granddaughter, Hayden, turned 7 in June. I love being their Poppy, but I wish their Poppy didn’t have MS. I was diagnosed with MS in 1980, just over a year…
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…
June 28, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: MS Diet, Early Symptoms, Kesimpta, Spinal Fluid Test MIND Diet May Protect Brain Tissue in MS The Mediterranean Diet is one of several diets that proponents believe slow their MS progression and in some cases help to improve some symptoms. However, the…
May 9, 2024 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister Everyone with MS uses their own ‘recipes’ to cope with symptoms
May 2, 2024 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister There’s comfort in putting a name to a multiple sclerosis symptom