People say to write what you know and Ed Tobias knows about MS. He’s lived with the illness since 1980, when he was 32 years old. Ed’s a retired, award-winning broadcast journalist and his column combines his four decades of MS experiences with news and comments about the latest in the MS community. In addition to writing his column, Ed is one of the patient moderators on the MS News Today Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram sites. He’s also the author of “The Multiple Sclerosis Toolbox: Hints and Tips for Living with M.S.” Ed and his wife split their time between the Washington, D.C. suburbs and Florida’s Gulf Coast, trying to follow the sun.
This is my 823rd column for Multiple Sclerosis News Today. It is also my last. Over the past seven and a half years, I’ve written about multiple sclerosis (MS) fatigue and frustration, about treatments…
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Almost Half of MS Patients Change or Stop DMT Due to High Financial Burden, Survey Shows I frequently see reports of this on multiple sclerosis patient websites. People with MS say they’ve been forced to change or even…
People with multiple sclerosis have been waiting for this: A full-scale clinical trial testing the effectiveness of stem cell transplantation as an MS treatment. The trial is being conducted by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, and it’s…
New Trial Compares Stem Cell Treatment to Available Therapies for Severe Relapsing MS This is a biggie. The U.S. National Institutes of Health is conducting a head to head study comparing autologous hematopoietic stem…
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…
As more high-efficacy disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) are being made available, people with multiple sclerosis have to decide how much risk they’re willing to accept in exchange for the treatment’s potential benefits. It’s a tough decision not…
MetP Pharma Awarded US Patent for Potential Remyelination Therapy Mention remyelination and the reaction from most of us with multiple sclerosis is probably, “How soon?” This announcement makes me hope that it’s now a…
About a year and a half ago, Multiple Sclerosis News Today introduced a forums section. It’s a great place to post a question or comment about MS, or to answer someone else’s question. I’m one…
FDA Approves Three Generic Versions of Novartis’ Gilenya for Treating Relapsing MS It’s always nice to hear about generics becoming available to replace expensive multiple sclerosis treatments. But I wonder whether these generics will…
I used the Bioness L300, a functional electrical stimulation (FES) device, for about seven years to counter my left foot drop. I strapped it to my leg just below the knee. As I began to take a step, it…
Immunoadsorption May Be Superior to Plasma Exchange in Treating Steroid-resistant Relapses in MS Steroids may be an effective treatment for multiple sclerosis relapses, but they have negative side effects. Many people report a…
It happened on the coldest day of the season. It was 16 degrees F with wind chill. I was outside, using my electric scooter to take Joey, our cocker spaniel, for his early morning walk.
CHMP Favors Mayzent as Oral Treatment Specifically for Active SPMS Patients in EU Mayzent (siponimod) is one of the newest disease-modifying treatments (DMT). I’m pleased that the Committee for Medicinal Products of Human Use…
Google has quietly teamed up with Ascension, one of the largest healthcare organizations in the United States, to process the medical records of millions of people. According to The Wall Street Journal, “Project Nightingale” involves all sorts of…
EMA Safety Group Advises Lemtrada Be Limited to ‘Highly Active’ RRMS Patients at Hospitals with ICUs I’m highlighting this report because, like several Europe-based doctors I know, I think that this decision is an…
What worries you most about living with multiple sclerosis? I’m catching up with a small survey by Can Do MS, an organization that promotes health and wellness education programs. The survey results, released in September, show that disease…
Vumerity Approved in US as Treatment for RRMS and Active SPMS By my count, Vumerity is the 18th disease-modifying therapy (DMT) that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved for multiple…
It’s time for another update on how I’ve been doing with my Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) treatments. The bottom line is that I’m doing well. Lemtrada is a disease-modifying therapy (DMT) delivered in two stages. The first stage entails…
Higher Intellectual Ability, Early-life Physical Activity May Protect Against Cognitive Impairment in MS, Study Suggests The finding that physical activity provides a protective effect for cognitive abilities makes sense to me. I recently listened…
A question raised by neurologist Gavin Giovannoni on the Barts-MS blog lit up my radar recently. Dr. G asked whether “elderly” people with MS should be treated differently than those who are younger. The question arises because a…
#ECTRIMS2019 – Are Injectables Inappropriate for Active Relapsing MS Treatment? Injectable disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) have been around for a long time. I took part in a Phase 3 clinical trial for Avonex (interferon…
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