Cooking Dinner when MS Fatigue Has You Down
The TV was on as background noise the other day, but the words of the commercial cut right through my noise filter. With a little drum beat in the background, a woman’s voice…
The MS Wire — Ed Tobias
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.
Featured Post
After more than 7 years, ‘The MS Wire’ column is moving on
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…
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Who Are You to Tell Me What MS Therapy I Need?
I’m used to seeing insurance companies here in the United States make decisions about MS therapies, including refusing to pay for certain treatments unless other, less expensive ones are tried first. These,…
MS News that Caught My Eye Last Week: Ocrevus in the EU, Salt and Cognitive Problems, Searching for Myelin, Tecfidera Tolerance
European Commission Approves Ocrevus to Treat RRMS, PPMS Throughout EU This is a biggie. It’s been nearly a year since the FDA approved the use of Ocrevus here in the U.S.
Heavy-hitting MS Therapies Now Being Used Sooner for Some Patients
I’m sitting in Florida and the start of spring training is only about six weeks from now, so please forgive a baseball analogy: The heavy-hitters of the MS-fighting treatments, the monoclonal…
A Tough Year to Fight the Flu
I’m fighting a cold. I’m coughing and I’m congested. I’m hoping it’s not the flu. This is not a year to get the flu. The type of flu circulating in most of…
MS News that Caught My Eye Last Week: Rituxan, Medical Marijuana for Canadians, Extavia, Atira Trial
Newly Diagnosed MS Patients Stay Longer on Rituxan Than Other Therapies, Study Finds This is a study that identifies which disease-modifying drugs new MS patients stuck with and which they gave…
Worrying About the Dye Used in My MRIs
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a safety alert about gadolinium, the dye that’s injected when our doctors order a brain MRI “with and without” contrast. The dye provides the…
Diagnosing MS Faster and Better
As we all know, MS is difficult to diagnose. Put another way, it’s easy to misdiagnose. There’s no single diagnostic test for MS. Neurologists use their clinical examination, the patient’s medical history,…
MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: MRI Dyes, Diagnosis Criteria, Handwriting and MS, Progressive MS Research
FDA Warns of Risks Linked to Gadolinium-based Contrast Agents Used in MRI Scans I had a brain MRI a couple of weeks ago and I asked the technician about the FDA…
My Lemtrada Journey: A New Year’s Update
Happy new year to all. The start of the new year seems like a good time to assess what my journey has been like since my first round of Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) back…
Young MSers Keeping Dreams Alive
This will be my final column for this year because of the Christmas and New Year holidays. Rather than ending 2017 with another 500 or so fascinating words from me, I’d like…
Monkey See, Monkey Do: Helping Hands for People with MS
I was just monkeying around while on vacation a few weeks ago, amazed that the animals jumping between my wife and myself were actually listening to the commands of their owner. I knew…
MS News that Caught My Eye Last Week: MS Pain, Your Bioclock, Remyelination
Chronic and Neuropathic Pain in MS Patients Should Be Routinely Evaluated, Study Says The next time a doctor tells you that there’s no pain associated with MS, point them to this study. Yes,…
Using Biotin? It Could Impact Your Lab Results
Be careful if you’re using high-dose biotin (vitamin B7). The biotin in your blood could lead to some false readings when you have that blood tested. The level of concern about this is…
Should MS Therapy Prices Reflect How Diligently We Take Our Meds?
Would you be more likely to stick to your MS drug schedule if being diligent lowered the cost of that drug? Biogen, which makes half a dozen MS drugs, including Avonex…
MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Mavenclad, Steroids, Blood Tests, Laquinimod, MS Diagnosis
Health Canada Approves Merck’s Mavenclad to Treat RRMS The European Union OK’d Mavenclad back in August. Now, Canada has come on board with approval for this oral MS therapy, which has…
What I Learned About My MS While on Vacation
You wouldn’t think that a guy who was diagnosed with MS more than 37 years ago would still be able to learn a thing or two about his disease. But that’s exactly…
Social Media’s World of MS Misinformation
I’m worried about social media. Specifically, I’m worried about the many MS-related groups in the Facebook world. There are general MS groups and there are groups dedicated to specific MS treatments. I…
A Wheelchair that Drives Itself
I never thought I’d find a subject for this MS column in the technology magazine Wired. But, what do you know? A recent article suggested that the same technology being…
She Has MS and She Just Hiked 500 Miles
Well, 460.75 miles (741.5 km), to be exact. When I wrote about April Hester in late September, the headline on my column was “She Has MS and She’s Planning to Hike…
