July 9, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News that Caught My Eye Last Week: Medical Cannabis in Australia, Solvents and Common Pollution, Ocrevus and PPMS Medical Cannabis Favored to Treat MS Spasticity and Other Ills by Doctors in Australia, Survey Finds I’ve been thinking about using medical marijuana to treat my multiple sclerosis (MS) spasticity — specifically CBD oil. It appears that…
July 6, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias Big ER Bills for Little ER Visits A couple weeks ago, I wrote a column about medical bills suggesting that you trust, but verify those charges. A few days ago, I read about a type of emergency room fee that’s hard to trust. It’s…
July 3, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias ‘Low T’ and MS Risk in Men Statistics show that men are three times less likely than women to develop multiple sclerosis. Research has shown that men also develop MS at a later age than women and that their disease is more progressive. Could this…
June 26, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias MS Patients Can Dress For Success When you have MS, finding a way to dress for success means more than just looking sharp. It means dressing to both look good and feel good about yourself while wearing clothing that’s easy to wear. Finding those…
June 25, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News that Caught My Eye Last Week: A Genetic MS Link?, Spinal MRIs, MRI Payment Help, PPMS Study Researchers Discover How Key Genetic Risk Factor for MS Operates A genetic link to MS is something that some scientists have suspected for years. Now, there’s new research that targets a variation of a specific gene…
June 22, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias Do People Think Your MS Problems Are All in Your Head? Have you ever had a friend, spouse, or even a doctor tell you that you’re imagining your MS pain, your fatigue, or even your sexual problems? “You’re not trying,” they might say. Or, “You just need to exercise.”…
June 18, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: A Myelin Discovery; Comparing Gilenya and Tecfidera; Measuring a Fall Risk; Smoking, Obesity, and MS Discovery of ‘Fiery’ Cell Death Mechanism May Be MS ‘Game-Changer’ Researchers at the University of Alberta have discovered a process that may be responsible for destroying myelin. Better than that, they also think they have a…
June 15, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias Getting Help Paying for Your MRIs It’s not unusual for someone with MS to have an annual MRI exam. Sometimes it’s even semiannual. And it’s not cheap. According to the website Healthcare Bluebook, an MRI of the brain, with and without contrast, can…
June 12, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias Is Your MS Ready for a Disaster? Hurricane season began on June 1 in the Atlantic region. For people living along the coast, as I do, it’s time to plan for moving quickly. For people with mobility problems, planning is essential since, as you…
June 8, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias My MS Medical Bills: Trust, but Verify the Charges “Trust, but verify” was a key concept during the U.S.-Soviet nuclear negotiations of the 1980s. “Trust,” President Ronald Reagan would say, “but verify” that what’s being said is actually being done. I apply that same concept to my…
June 5, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias Music and MS Are a Duet for This Inspirational Concert Pianist My philosophy about living with MS is written on a plaque hanging on the wall in my home. It reads: “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.” Olga…
June 4, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News that Caught My Eye Last Week: Remyelination, Predicting SPMS, Switching DMTs, MS and a Virus Chemical that Stimulates Estrogen Receptors Seen to Promote Myelin Repair Through ‘Good’ Inflammation in Mouse MS Model Caution: This is only a mouse study. However, anything that might repair the damaged myelin of people with MS…
June 1, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias MS Patients Are Getting Caught in an Insurance Deductible Snag MS medications are expensive. Many people with MS are able to afford their high prices only because their insurance covers most of the cost, and what remains as their copay is often covered by many of the…
May 29, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias Pressure in the UK Helps Lower MS Therapy Costs. But What About the US? In the United States, the government can do very little to control the costs of our expensive MS medications. In the United Kingdom, it’s a different story. The U.K. has an organization called the National Institute for…
May 25, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias Two MS Medications Appear on FDA’s Shame List Two multiple sclerosis medications that are both popular and expensive are on a new list that U.S. regulators hope will increase price competition. The medications are Ampyra (dalfampridine), made by Acorda, and Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate), by…
May 22, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias I Have MS and I’m Very Lucky National Nurses Week was earlier this month. I’m a little late saying it, but, “Thank you, nurses.” And doctors. I’m really a lucky guy. Lucky to have had fabulous nurses. Lucky to have had a couple of top-notch…
May 21, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News that Caught My Eye Last Week: PML Treatment, Gilenya for Kids, Rituximab, and an MS trial that is Enrolling Complications from Gilenya Treatment Managed Successfully, Case Report Says This wasn’t a minor complication. It was a version of PML, a brain disease that can be fatal. PML is also a known side effect of Tysabri,…
May 18, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias A Pediatric MS Medication Gets the OK Until about a week ago, no medication was approved in the U.S. to treat patients with pediatric-onset MS (POMS). Now there is one. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given its OK to use Gilenya…
May 15, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias Healthcare Costs Can Depend on Where You Live A new survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation finds that healthcare costs in the U.S. are increasing faster than general inflation. As character Private Gomer Pyle used to say on his 1960s TV show, “Surprise, surprise, surprise!”…
May 14, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News that Caught My Eye Last Week: An MS Program for Young Adults, Rituximab Report, Repairing Myelin, and Reducing Inflammation Organizations Join Forces to Launch New Adventure Program for Young MS Patients It seems we too often ignore the needs of younger people who have MS. (I’ve written a couple of columns about this.) This…
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