February 1, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Pediatric MS, Rituximab, AHSCT, Zeposia Tecfidera Safe and Effective Over Long Term in Children With RRMS, Trial Shows In my view, too little attention has been paid to treating children and teens with MS between the ages of 10 and 18. Though things…
January 29, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias Don’t Jump to Conclusions Over a Breakthrough MS Vaccine Just Yet A medical website’s headline screamed, “Breakthrough Multiple Sclerosis Vaccine Shows Impressive Results In Study.” The New York Daily News joined in, highlighting a potential “breakthrough” vaccine. Other media outlets also were using similar adjectives earlier this month. Unfortunately,…
January 25, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Nanocrystals, ‘Cog Fog,’ Mapping MS, Ocrevus Clene Awaits US Patent Covering Gold Nanocrystals’ Use in Treating MS This is a different approach to MS treatment. It uses very tiny crystals to produce a chemical reaction. It is hoped that this…
January 22, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias Car Repairs Aren’t Easy When You Have MS I love the car I drive, but I’ve hated going to the dealer to get my car serviced. In the four decades that I’ve lived with MS, my walking has deteriorated to the point where I use a scooter…
January 18, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: CBD, Sativex, Lemtrada, Sexual Dysfunction Public-private Partnership Will Assess Therapy Potential, Effects of CBD Have you tried using CBD to treat your MS? I have. I’d hoped it would ease my leg spasms. Some people say it helps, but…
January 15, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias COVID-19 Vaccine Gets Thumbs-up from National MS Society The advice issued Tuesday by the U.S.-based National Multiple Sclerosis Society about COVID-19 vaccination couldn’t be clearer: “Get your vaccine as soon as it is available to you.” New MS Society guidelines say that the two COVID-19 vaccines…
January 11, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: DMTs and Disease Progression, Obesity, Sunlight and Relapses, MS Fatigue Study: Past Long-term DMT Use Tapers Risk of Current MS Progression Since being diagnosed in 1980, I’ve used four disease-modifying therapies (DMTs), starting with Avonex (interferon beta-1a) in the late 1990s. I haven’t had…
January 8, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias Can Amazon Lower Healthcare Costs? The answer to whether Amazon, in partnership with a pair of financial giants, can make healthcare more accessible and less expensive for its workers is: Apparently, it can’t. About two years after rolling out a project known as Haven,…
December 30, 2020 Columns by Ed Tobias Will Reduced Treatment Time Keep Ocrevus Competitive? One of the key considerations when choosing a disease-modifying therapy (DMT) is how much it will disrupt your life. It’s one of several factors that need to be evaluated. Unlike shots and pills, infusion treatments can require a significant…
December 21, 2020 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Stem Cell Study, Protein Predictor, Tolebrutinib and STEP Trials Stem Cell Therapy Shows 2-year Benefit for Progressive MS Patients in Phase 1 Trial Stem cell studies always catch my eye. This very small study involves people treated with their own bone marrow, which…
December 18, 2020 Columns by Ed Tobias Getting Back to Physical Therapy for My MS Are you sitting down? I am, but I’ve been doing too much of that this year. For the past six months, I haven’t been using our community exercise room. I haven’t been able to swim. I haven’t gone outside…
December 14, 2020 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Fatigue Trial, Pediatric MS Relapses, Stem Cell Transplant MS Patients Urged to Enroll in Clinical Trial Assessing Chronic Fatigue Treatments My “MS Wire” column 10 days ago reported on a study of MS fatigue treatments that compared three medications with a…
December 11, 2020 Columns by Ed Tobias Can I Get a COVID-19 Vaccine If I Have MS? Do you plan to get a COVID-19 vaccine? I do. One is now available to some residents of the U.K., and approval in the U.S. of one or more likely will happen soon. Though the U.S.-based National Multiple Sclerosis…
December 7, 2020 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Quality of Life, Virtual Reality Rehab, Aubagio and Brain Atrophy, Cancer Risk Review Study Examines Factors That Affect MS Patients’ Quality of Life What affects the qualify of your life as someone who lives with MS? Fatigue is at the top of my list, followed by…
December 4, 2020 Columns by Ed Tobias There Is No Magic Pill for MS Fatigue I’ve been tired all day, which is nothing new, as fatigue and multiple sclerosis go hand in hand. It’s been one of my primary symptoms since I was diagnosed in 1980. To counter it, I’ve taken Provigil (modafinil)…
November 30, 2020 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: More Tysabri Benefits, Long-term Ocrevus Data, Trial Diversity, MS and the Gut Tysabri Affects Immune System Beyond Known MS Target, Study Finds Tysabri (natalizumab) slows multiple sclerosis progression by blocking some immune cells from entering the central nervous system, where they attack the myelin coating of…
November 23, 2020 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Typing Patterns and MS Progression, Cognitive Testing, Multitasking, Autoimmune Registry Smartphone Typing Patterns May Be Tool for Monitoring MS Progression, Study Finds This is an interesting concept that makes sense. Like the nine-hole peg test that some neurologists use to test finger dexterity, and…
November 20, 2020 Columns by Ed Tobias Travel During COVID-19: Should We Stay or Should We Go? The temperature’s dropping. The wind is whipping. It’s time for my wife, Laura, and me to head south, leaving cold, uncomfortable Maryland for the welcoming warmth of southwest Florida. Or is it? Though I once swore I’d never become…
November 16, 2020 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Possible MS Blood Test, IMU-838, aHSCT vs. Lemtrada Neurofilament Light Levels at First MS Event Can Predict Long-term Brain Atrophy Researchers are looking at a protein that’s released into the body’s fluids when neurons become damaged. They hope it will help them…
November 13, 2020 Columns by Ed Tobias MSIF Issues New Recommendations to Protect Against COVID-19 The Multiple Sclerosis International Federation (MSIF) has issued new recommendations about how people with MS should adjust their daily lives because of the coronavirus pandemic. The MSIF, a network of national MS societies from around the world,…
April 18, 2024 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister Learning how to write a ‘SOAP’ note feels different after an MS diagnosis
April 15, 2024 Columns by Leigh Anne Nelson What does ‘delicate balance’ mean in my life with multiple sclerosis?