News, info and tips for living with multiple sclerosis
I love the car I drive, but I’ve hated going to the dealer for car service. In the four decades that I’ve lived with MS, my walking has deteriorated to the point where I use a scooter if I have to walk more than 75 feet. If I do walk, I need to use two canes and wear a Bioness L300 Go electric stimulator to counter my foot drop. My…Continue Reading
The advice issued last week by the U.S.-based National Multiple Sclerosis Society about COVID-19 vaccination couldn’t be clearer: “Get your vaccine as soon as it is available to you.” The new MS Society guidelines say that the two COVID-19 vaccines currently available in the U.S., both of which use an mRNA model, are “safe and effective.” The risk of contracting severe COVID-19 far outweighs any potential vaccination risks, they add.…Continue Reading
The answer to whether Amazon, in partnership with a pair of financial giants, can make healthcare more accessible and less expensive for its workers is: Apparently, it can’t. About two years after rolling out a project known as Haven, the plug is being pulled. The idea had been for Amazon to pool resources with the investment and banking firms Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase & Co. “to make primary care…Continue Reading
One of the key considerations when choosing a disease-modifying therapy (DMT) is how much it will disrupt your life. It’s one of several factors that need to be evaluated, of course, but it’s important. Unlike shots and pills, infusion treatments can require a significant amount of time. So, will the U.S. Federal Drug Administration’s December approval of a shortened infusion time for Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) be a big deal for people…Continue Reading
Do you plan to get a COVID-19 vaccine? I do. People in the U.K. started receiving the vaccine last week and the first doses are on their way to people in the U.S. So far, the U.S.-based National Multiple Sclerosis Society has said only that people with MS should seriously consider getting a COVID-19 vaccine. It’s brought together a group of experts to make some detailed recommendations, but the group’s…Continue Reading
I’ve been taking medication to fight my multiple sclerosis fatigue for many years. But, a recent study makes me wonder whether it’s been worthwhile.
The temperature’s dropping. The wind is whipping. It’s time for my wife, Laura, and me to head south, leaving cold, uncomfortable Maryland for the welcoming warmth of southwest Florida. Or is it? Though I once swore I’d never become a snowbird, a few years ago, we spent a week on Florida’s Gulf Coast, where friends had just bought a condo. Before long, we’d spent four winters there and then bought…Continue Reading
The Multiple Sclerosis International Federation (MSIF) has issued new recommendations about how the coronavirus pandemic might, or might not, impact the lives of people with MS. The MSIF, a network of national MS societies from around the world, first issued recommendations about COVID-19 and MS last spring. But much has been learned about the virus since then, including how it affects people with MS. The new recommendations address whether MS leads to complications with…Continue Reading
Is the United States a step closer to approving a form of stem cell transplants as a treatment for multiple sclerosis? That’s because the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) has slightly changed its view of autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, or aHSCT. aHSCT involves removing a patient’s own stem cells from the blood or bone marrow, using chemotherapy to kill off most of the immune system, and then injecting the…Continue Reading
My multiple sclerosis (MS) was diagnosed 40 years ago in August. I never kept my MS a secret, but I didn’t go around advertising it, either. I’ll bet, for the first 20 years or so, very few people at work knew I lived with the disease. When my MS stuck, I was working as the news director of a large radio station in a major U.S. city. I managed about…Continue Reading