August 31, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias Checking Out a Dating App for People with Health Problems Does your MS limit your ability to find a date? (Courtesy of Lemonayde) Dating isn’t a concern of mine, since I turned 70 earlier this month and have been happily married for 42 years. But younger, single…
August 28, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias Help Design a Mobility Scooter I’ve been using a mobility scooter for about 10 years. I use it anytime I need to walk more than about half a city block. I throw it in the back of my SUV, I’ve taken it on…
August 27, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News that Caught My Eye Last Week: Cannabis and Inflammation, Exercise and MS, a New MS Subtype Cannabidiol Increases Inflammatory Suppressor Cells, New MS Mouse Study Shows There’s quite a bit of anecdotal evidence that the use of marijuana can help reduce the symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS). Here’s a report about a…
August 24, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias Your MS Med’s Copay Could Be More Expensive than Paying Cash I get my medications the old-fashioned way. When I need to fill a prescription, I either go to the drug store or use a mail-order pharmacy — and usually, I have a copay. Sometimes the copay is just…
August 21, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias Male or Female Doctor? Is One Better than the Other? The neurologist who treats my MS is a woman. So is my primary care physician. I wouldn’t have it any other way, and an article in The New York Times makes me feel my decision is the right…
August 20, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Lemtrada and B-cells, DMT Efficacy, Botox and the Brain, a Diet Recommendation Lemtrada Can Lower Number of B-cells Infiltrating Nervous System and Forming Clumps, Animal Study Shows I usually stay away from recommending articles about mice studies, but this article does a nice job of explaining how Lemtrada…
August 17, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias 2 Short Films Take Different Approaches to Portraying Life with MS Over the past week, I’ve come across two short films that are designed to show what it’s like living with MS. But they have two very different approaches.
August 14, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias Taking My MS for a Sea Ride I’ve been away for about a week, the first break of that length that I’ve had from writing about MS in about two years. Much of that time was spent on a trip from Long Island, New York,…
August 13, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: MMJ Chewing Gum, Hair Loss, Botox for Bladder Problems, MS Progression Prediction Hair Loss Seen in RRMS Patients Using Aubagio Often Temporary and Mild, Study Says I read a lot of questions on multiple sclerosis (MS) social media groups from people who are worried about hair loss caused…
August 3, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias Healthcare Is Expensive, So Why Don’t We Comparison Shop? If you’re going to buy a car, do you limit your shopping to just one car dealer? If you need gas, do you drive past three inexpensive service stations because someone told you to fill up at a…
July 31, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias What I’ve Learned About Falling After 37 Years with MS Leaving a restaurant the other evening, I was stepping off an unusually high curb. Right cane down, left cane down, swing the right leg, swing the left leg, and … uh-oh. Down I go. I’d been asking for…
July 30, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News that Caught My Eye Last Week: Popular DMTs, Data Analysis Predicts MS, Remyelination Study Oral DMTs Still Common 1st Therapy for New MS Patients but Ocrevus Having Impact, Market Report Says Deciding on what therapy to use is a tough decision for people with MS and their doctors. That’s especially…
July 27, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias A Fall, a Scratch, and an MS Lesson Learned In mid-July, the woman who writes the Multiple ExperienceS blog had a little fall. As Jamie explains, her rollator went forward, but her feet didn’t. The fall left a small cut on her knee. Over the next…
July 24, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias Health Insurers Do Deep Data Dive to Estimate Your Healthcare Costs Every time you post something on social media, pay a bill online, or make an online purchase you leave behind little data footprints. Now, an extensive report by National Public Radio and the nonprofit news organization…
July 23, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News that Caught My Eye Last Week: Predicting MS Progression, MS Links to Other Diseases, Cladribine, Diet Discussions Brain Iron Levels Correlate with MS Progression, Disability Risk, Study Shows Currently, doctors measure shrinkage in the brain as a way to predict physical and cognitive decline in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). But it takes…
July 20, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias Are These Diseases Early MS Warning Signs? It’s not unusual to hear someone say, “I was diagnosed with MS in [fill in the year], but I probably should have been diagnosed five or 10 years earlier.” Now a study reports that during the five…
July 17, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias My Lemtrada Journey: A Little Dip on the Roller Coaster I’m now three months past my second round of Lemtrada treatments, so it’s time for an update. I began Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) in December 2016, hoping it will be the last disease-modifying therapy that I’ll ever need to…
July 16, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Fasting Study, ‘Bad’ T-cells, Brain Volume, Ocrevus in Scotland Missouri Trial to Examine if Fasting Alters Gut Microbiome and Immune System of RRMS Patients in Helpful Ways The impact of various diets on multiple sclerosis (MS) has been studied, but this new study will look…
July 13, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias Medical Marijuana Could Mean Trouble for Gun Owners I’ve written before about medical marijuana (MMJ) and its use by those with MS. I’ve also written about how MS affects gun ownership. This column is about both MMJ and guns. Thirty-one states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico,…
July 10, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias MS Hope or MS Hype? This Writer’s Dilemma Let’s say there’s an MS study reporting that researchers have discovered a substance that seems to prevent nerve cell damage. But they’ve only studied this on mice. Or, there’s another study that claims that something can help reduce…
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?