News, info and tips for living with multiple sclerosis
(This was first published in my column on www.multiplesclerosisnewstoday.com) I hate to admit it, but I’m getting kind of old. That’s not to say that 68 is really old, but I’m probably older than a lot of the people who are reading this. I’m also 36 years old in “MS years.” I was diagnosed the month that Ronald Reagan won the Republican nomination to run for U.S. President and I’ve…Continue Reading
[This post first appeared last month in my column on www.multiplesclerosisnewstoday.com] Feeling tired? No surprise there. Fatigue is as much a part of living with Multiple Sclerosis as sand is a part of the beach where I live. It’s interesting, then, that neurologists seem to have no good system for measuring levels of MS fatigue or any treatments that are really effective over the long term. Physiologists at Colorado State University…Continue Reading
People with MS often wonder if their MS is affected by what they eat. Articles about the reported benefits of various diets appear regularly. Now, researchers at the University of Iowa are going to study two of the most well know MS diets to see what impact they have on MS symptoms, specifically on the level of a patient’s MS-related fatigue. Both MS Diets Eliminate Meat The diets to be…Continue Reading
If you have Multiple Sclerosis the chances are good that you’ve used, or will use, a drug made by Biogen. The biophamaceutical company makes Avonex, Tysabri, Tecfidera, Fampya, Plegridy and Zinbryta to treat MS. I’ve used two of them myself and participated in the double-blind study for Avonex, way back when. Now, Biogen’s Chief Executive Officer, George Scangos, has announced that he’s leaving. What will that mean to those of…Continue Reading
They’re not multiple sclerosis patients, but researchers using electrical stimulation of the spinal cord have returned some above-the-waste movement to two quadriplegics. In the past, researchers have been successful returning some voluntary leg movement to quads when the lower spinal column was stimulated by electric pulses, but this appears to be the first report that electrical stimulation of the cervical spine can produce movement above the waist; in this case,…Continue Reading
It had been hoped that Biogen’s experimental drug opicinumab would be able to repair mylin. As those of us who live with Multiple Sclerosis know all too well, mylin is sort of an insulator to our nerves. MS destroys mylin and, in doing so, short circuits our nervous system. Biogen announced today that Phase 2 of its opicinumab trial, named SYNERGY, failed to meet its primary goal of improving physical…Continue Reading
My neurologist tells me “the buzz is good” about ocrelizumab. The investing web site Motley Fool calls it “the revolutionary Multiple Sclerosis drug you’ve never heard of.” Ocrelizumab, which Genentech hopes to market under the name Ocrevus, is special because it’s designed to treat primary-progressive, as well as relapsing-remitting, MS. How does it work? I’m not a scientist, but after reading a lot of scientific writing here’s my best attempt to…Continue Reading
You have MS but you have some mobility. You need help to walk because your legs are weak or stiff, and your balance is off, but canes don’t give enough help and braces are too cumbersome or limiting. How great would it be to have something that’s relatively lightweight that you could wear and would help your legs move? That’s what a group of roboticists, mechanical and biomechanical engineers, software…Continue Reading
“You are what you eat,” some say, and that may be even truer when it comes to your MS. Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston report that bacteria living in your stomach may influence cells that help control inflammation and degeneration in your brain. “For the first time, we’ve been able to identify that food has some sort of remote control over central nervous system inflammation,” says Francisco…Continue Reading
Patients who use mitoxantrone appear to be at increased risk of colon cancer, according to a new study, and as well as acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Mitoxantrone is used to treat aggressive relapsing-remitting, and also progressive, MS when the patient doesn’t respond to other drugs. It suppresses the immune system and was first developed as a treatment for some cancers. Its use is limited because past studies have shown that…Continue Reading