The MS Wire

News, info and tips for living with multiple sclerosis

Category: Multiple Sclerosis News Columns

I Had a COVID-19 Antibody Test. What Does it Show?

COVID-19 antibody test

Is 2,500 my magical COVID-19 number? At my annual MS checkup a week ago, my neurologist included a SARS-CoV-2 antibody test. Antibodies are proteins in the blood that protect the body from being attacked by viruses, bacteria, and the like. In this case, the blood test was searching for antibodies that would protect me against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the virus that causes COVID-19. With two shots of the Moderna vaccine…Continue Reading

Our 45th Anniversary, Even With MS

45th anniversary

Happy anniversary to us! My wife, Laura, and I are celebrating our 45th anniversary this month. It’s hard to believe, especially because the divorce rate for someone with multiple sclerosis is higher than it is for a healthy person. A review of records in the Danish MS-Registry a few years ago showed that the probability of a marriage continuing after five years was 86% for MS patients versus 89% in…Continue Reading

Are You OK Being Treated by Dr. Google?

Dr. Google

Paging Dr. Google. OK, maybe I’m being overly dramatic, but The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Google and HCA Healthcare have struck a deal to share data and create healthcare algorithms. HCA plans to use the data system to improve operating efficiency, monitor patients, and even guide some decisions by doctors. So, the concept of a “Dr. Google” isn’t far-fetched. HCA Healthcare has clinics at 2,000 locations in 21…Continue Reading

Looking at an MS Cure a Different Way

ms cure

“Why aren’t researchers doing more to find an MS cure?” “Why isn’t more effort and money devoted to this?” I regularly read comments like these after I write a column about a new disease-modifying therapy (DMT) that’s either being tested or has just been approved. Some, like Multiple Sclerosis News Today columnist Jennifer Powell, have faith that a cure will come, but many others feel a cure is far, far…Continue Reading

My MS is Challenged by an Unexpected Driving Test

drving test

My tough day started when Brenda asked, “Why do you use that scooter?” Brenda was sitting behind a desk at the County Tax Collector’s Office in Florida, where my wife, Laura, and I hoped that transferring our driver’s licenses from Maryland to Florida would be an easy chore. When I answered, “I have trouble walking,” and Brenda responded, “Just a minute,” and got up to speak with someone, I suspected…Continue Reading

MS Treatments React Differently to a COVID-19 vaccine

covid-19 vaccine

Are you being treated with a disease-modifying therapy (DMT) and wondering how it might impact the efficacy of an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine? If so, a recent study may provide some clarity. The study, published in Therapeutic Advances in Neurological Disorders, looked at 125 MS patients either being treated with Mavenclad (cladribine), Ocrevus (ocrelizumab), or Gilenya (fingolimod), or no DMT. A control group of healthy people also was included. Study participants…Continue Reading

The DMT Tool Could Help You Chose an MS Treatment

DMT tool helps decisions

Sometimes it seems as if people with MS are asked to flip a coin to make what’s arguably the most important decision they make about their treatment: which disease-modifying therapy (DMT) to use. More than 20 DMTs are approved in the U.S. and many of those are available in the rest of the world. There are pills, injections, and infusions, and their efficacy, side effects, and costs vary significantly. One…Continue Reading

Older People With MS Need More Respect

older people with ms

As comic Rodney Dangerfield might have said, older people with MS “just don’t get no respect.” By older, I mean those of us who are 55 and up. By respect, I mean attention from researchers and from some neurologists. So, as I approach my 73rd birthday, I have to tip my cap to doctors Eva Strijbis, Anne Kerbrat, and John Corboy for some respect they’re showing to us older people…Continue Reading

Some Like it Hot and so Does My MS

I like it hot

Many people with MS avoid Florida. I crave it. I like it hot. My wife and I finally returned here in early March, escaping dreary, rainy, and windy Maryland after we received our COVID-19 vaccines. Since we arrived, the weather has been wonderful, with few clouds and temperatures warm enough for swimming outdoors. Swimming, or at least pool walking, is important to me. I try to walk at least 500…Continue Reading

My Lemtrada Journey: Three Years After Round 2

Lemtrada journey

It’s been three years since I completed my second round of Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) infusions. So, it’s time to take another look at where my Lemtrada journey has taken me. Lemtrada is a monoclonal antibody treatment that wipes out rogue B- and T-cells in the immune system. These cells attack the central nervous system of people with MS. The immune system then rebuilds itself, hopefully with normal cells. Lemtrada is highly…Continue Reading