June 14, 2019 Columns by Ed Tobias Tony Awards ‘Cain’t Say No’ to Ali Stroker Rather than hiding from the storm, it’s better to learn to dance in the rain, as I like to say. Ali Stroker, who plays Ado Annie in the Broadway revival of the musical “Oklahoma,” has learned to dance in…
June 11, 2019 Columns by Ed Tobias Making Invisible Patients Visible You may have felt what Bethanee Epifani Bryant has felt in a doctor’s office. I think many patients have, but most of us can’t paint the picture of our experiences that Bryant can paint. And she paints it using…
June 10, 2019 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Ozanimod for RRMS, MS Monitoring App, Video Series FDA and EMA to Review Ozanimod as Possible Oral Therapy for Relapsing MS Another disease-modifying therapy (DMT) is a step closer to gaining approval for use both in the U.S. and in Europe. And…
June 7, 2019 Columns by Ed Tobias My MS Has Been No Sweat. Has Yours, Too? I worked up a little sweat when I was exercising the other day. It was just a tiny bit on my forehead, but it was something I hadn’t felt in many years. I’ve lived with MS since 1980, and…
June 3, 2019 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News that Caught My Eye Last Week: Preventive MS Treatment, Clinical Trial Guidelines for Kids, Stress, and Gut Bacteria Cyxone Nears First-in-human Trial for Investigational Preventive MS Treatment T20K Multiple sclerosis can be treated but it can’t be prevented — at least not yet. But these researchers hope that a substance derived from…
May 31, 2019 Columns by Ed Tobias Walmart Is Putting Quality of Employee MRIs Before Cost Did you know that not all magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exams are of equal quality? Walmart officials know this, and they are concerned that poor exams given to their employees are costing the company money. Because people with…
May 28, 2019 Columns by Ed Tobias To Handle MS, Sometimes We Need a Little Attitude The other day, a young woman with multiple sclerosis (MS) shared her worry in a Facebook group that her disease would prevent her from playing with her grandchildren someday. Her concern got me thinking about how…
May 24, 2019 Columns by Ed Tobias Why I Take My MS to the Gym I rode a recumbent bike for 15 minutes today. That’s a record for me, and it felt great. The bike ride was part of an overall exercise routine that I’ve set up for myself at the gym. It mirrors…
May 21, 2019 Columns by Ed Tobias Humpty Dumpty and My MS I’ve met Humpty Dumpty, and he is me. I made that discovery the other night when I had a bad fall. It wasn’t off a wall; it was just off a chair, but it felt like…
May 20, 2019 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News that Caught My Eye Last Week: MS Biomarker, Best RRMS Early Treatment, Ocrevus Study, Out-of-Pocket Costs #AANAM – Biogen Offers Update on Development Plans for MS Therapies The pharma company that brought you Tysabri (natalizumab) is investigating a new process for treating multiple sclerosis. The treatment looks for…
May 17, 2019 Columns by Ed Tobias MS Is a Pain, and Doctors Should Know It Dear Doctor, Why is it that you, or at least some of your colleagues, think that multiple sclerosis isn’t painful? Did you skip the med school class where they discussed MS? Are you not a neurologist, or are you a…
May 13, 2019 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News that Caught My Eye Last Week: Lemtrada Satisfaction, Limiting Tysabri’s PML Risk, MS and Pregnancy, Infusions vs. Pills #AANAM – RRMS Patients Switching to Lemtrada Report Greater Satisfaction with Treatment and Improvements in Quality of Life I’m a self-proclaimed secondary progressive, rather than a remitting, multiple sclerosis (MS) person. But a year…
May 10, 2019 Columns by Ed Tobias Diets and Supplements: Do They Really Help Your MS? When I read online posts from people who treat their multiple sclerosis (MS) with vitamins and supplements, I wonder how many of us do that. And if these supplements really help. The people at the…
May 7, 2019 Columns by Ed Tobias MS Meds Lead the Pack as Costs of Neuro Medications Rise Ouch! The out-of-pocket cash that people with multiple sclerosis (MS) lay out for their medications increased 20-fold between 2004 and 2016. That information comes from a study recently published on the Neurology website. Looked at another way, monthly…
May 6, 2019 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News that Caught My Eye Last Week: Sexual Problems in Women with MS; Aubagio Satisfaction; Cellular Aging and PPMS Women with MS Have Higher Prevalence of Sexual Dysfunction, Study Reveals I’m surprised that someone felt it necessary to conduct a formal study of this. A glance at multiple sclerosis (MS) groups on social…
May 3, 2019 Columns by Ed Tobias A Judge Takes a Swing at an Insurance Company’s Denials Robert Scola Jr. is a federal judge in Miami, and he’s just recused himself from a case involving the UnitedHealthcare (UHC) insurance company. The case is one of two filed in Miami over the…
April 30, 2019 Columns by Ed Tobias Lemtrada Risks vs. Rewards: Putting the Latest Side Effect Concerns into Perspective There’s been a lot of social media chatter following the recent decision by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to initiate a safety review of Lemtrada (alemtuzumab). The EMA has restricted use of the medication within the European Union (EU)…
April 29, 2019 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News that Caught My Eye Last Week: Tai Chi Study, Lemtrada Safety Review, Personalized Treatment, Online Depression Therapy Study Will Explore Benefits of Tai Chi, Meditation on MS Patients’ Balance I’ve tried yoga to help with my balance and flexibility and found it useful. But tai chi scares me a little —…
April 26, 2019 Columns by Ed Tobias Is It OK for Your Doctor to Hug You? Former Vice President Joe Biden has been in some hot water recently because of his habit of hugging some of the people he meets. More generally, in today’s society, some of the casual social touching that once went…
April 23, 2019 Columns by Ed Tobias Are Medical Mouse Studies Worth Reporting? People who cover medical issues often write about mouse studies. These stories can regularly be found on traditional news outlets, both broadcast and print, as well as online platforms. That includes the website on which you’re reading this column.
April 29, 2024 Columns by Leigh Anne Nelson My biggest worry post-diagnosis was whether MS could be inherited
April 25, 2024 Columns by Benjamin Hofmeister Finding safety while living with the constant threat of MS progression