April 12, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Predicting Progression, DMT Costs, MS Rates Retinal Layer Thickness May Predict MS Progression, Relapses We all know how unpredictable MS is. For some, it progresses very quickly, while for others, it follows a slow progression over many years. Wouldn’t it be nice if we…
April 9, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias An Update on My Lemtrada Journey, 3 Years After Round 2 Where has the time gone? It’s been three years since I completed my second round of Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) infusions. So, it’s time to take another look at where this journey has taken me. Lemtrada is a monoclonal…
April 5, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Nasal Spray Treatment, Anxiety Management, POMS, PoNS SPMS Patient First to Be Treated With Antibody Given via Nasal Spray How great is this? As someone who gave himself an injection in his thigh for many years and received IV infusions for…
April 2, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias Why We Still Need to Wear Masks, Socially Distance, and Wash Our Hands “I’ve had my shots, so I’m protected,” a friend recently told me, referring to the COVID-19 vaccine. My wife and I also have received our COVID-19 vaccines. More than a month has passed since our second shots of the…
March 29, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: COVID-19, UK ‘Mega-trial’, Pilates, Rituximab Certain Factors Worsen Outcomes in MS Patients With COVID-19 The worse your MS disability is, it seems, the worse the outcome if you’re infected with the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. If you’re still…
March 26, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias Ocrevus and PML: Should We Be Worried? The journal JAMA Neurology recently reported that a 78-year-old man with progressive multiple sclerosis died after being diagnosed with progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a brain disease. The man, diagnosed with MS about 30 years ago, had been…
March 22, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Ponvory, Ocrevus, COVID-19 Survey, Ampyra Ponvory (ponesimod) Approved for Adults With Relapsing Forms of MS Add one more medication to the disease-modifying therapy (DMT) arsenal. Ponvory is a once-a-day pill that aims to reduce immune system activity. It’s similar…
March 19, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias The MS Immune System: Suppressed, Compromised, or What? Lately, I’ve seen a lot of incorrect information on social media about how multiple sclerosis affects our immune system. Some of it seems to be prompted by concerns that MS makes someone more susceptible to COVID-19, or confusion about…
March 15, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Cure Connections, PIPE-307, Temelimab, EHP-101 NeurologyLive, CMSC Launch Expert Video Series ‘Cure Connections’ This series of 13 videos, designed for healthcare professionals, focuses on diagnosing MS, its psychological impact, managing symptoms, and treatments. Quality-of-life issues, fatigue, and patient support…
March 12, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias My 2nd COVID-19 Vaccine Shot Caused No Harsh Side Effects Last week, my wife and I were back in Bowie, Maryland, for our second shot of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. It was a sunny and warm afternoon after a windy, cold, and wet month. We hoped that was…
March 8, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: COVID-19 Vaccines, Benign and Aggressive MS, Cog Fog, Diet All of the stories this week are from the ACTRIMS 2021 Forum, an MS research conference held virtually Feb. 25–27. #ACTRIMS2021 – COVID-19 Vaccines Safe for MS Patients, Minimally Affected by DMTs My wife and…
March 5, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias I Had a Stupid, Scary Spill, but It Could Have Been Much Worse “Ooooops!” Actually, I spit out a shorter, one-syllable word as I took one of the scariest tumbles I’ve had in 40 years of living with MS. But this is a family column. My last scary fall a few…
March 1, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: POMS and Sunshine, Music Therapy, Tysabri, Socioeconomic Status Stories marked #ACTRIMS2021 are by members of the Multiple Sclerosis News Today team, who reported on this annual conference of MS researchers, held virtually this year due to COVID-19. #ACTRIMS2021 – 30 Minutes…
February 26, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias The Disturbing Trend of Caregiver Abuse in the MS Community This is disturbing and, unfortunately, not surprising. More than 50% of people with advanced multiple sclerosis reported they’ve been mistreated by a family member or friend who cares for them, according to the results of a…
February 22, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Tysabri, Evobrutinib, Diet Study, Rituximab Drop in PML With Tysabri Use in Sweden Likely Due to Risk Management Plan I’m JCV-positive, so I’m at risk for PML if I’m being treated with Tysabri. And I was treated with Tysabri…
February 19, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias Are You Having Trouble Paying for Your MS Medications? If you’re having trouble paying for your MS medications, you’re not alone. I regularly see social media posts from people whose insurance has changed or whose insurance company has suddenly dropped a medication from its formulary (the list of…
February 15, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: DMTs and COVID-19 Vaccines, Better Trials, Ocrevus, Spinal Lesions National MS Society Urges DMT Dosing Changes for COVID-19 Vaccinations The National MS Society has revised its COVID-19 vaccine recommendations first issued about a month ago. The guidelines still say the Moderna and Pfizer…
February 12, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias The First COVID-19 Shot Is Finally in My Arm It’s a good thing my wife, Laura, is persistent. Thanks to her tenacity, we’ve both been able to get our first shots of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. According to the pharmacist who gave us our shots, in two weeks…
February 8, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Plegridy, Telemedicine, AI for MS, Myelin Repair FDA Approves Plegridy as Intramuscular Injection for Relapsing MS A common patient complaint about Plegridy has been that its subcutaneous injection procedure results in injection site reactions. This new formulation is delivered into the…
February 5, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias Upper Body Health Also Is Important for People With MS My left hand was numb and weak when I was first diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. For years after that, symptoms above my waist seemed just as prevalent as those below it. Yet, there were no tests being used that…
March 28, 2024 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister Multiple sclerosis awareness is for people with MS, too