The MS Wire

News, info and tips for living with multiple sclerosis

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Do animal studies raise our MS treatment hopes too high?

Man with fingers crossed

Mice exaggerate and monkeys lie, some researchers jokingly say. (Or is it the other way around?) Testing on rodents and animals is a typical early step in creating medications, and several multiple sclerosis news sites publish articles about these studies. It’s interesting to read what researchers are studying and the experimental MS treatments they hope will work, especially when it comes to the holy grail of MS treatments which, in…Continue Reading

Will Tyruko save MS patients money? Maybe.

money

The late August approval of Tyruko (natalizumab-sztn) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is big news in the multiple sclerosis world. Tyruko is a biosimilar for Tysabri (natalizumab), and it’s the first biosimilar to gain FDA approval as an MS disease-modifying therapy (DMT). “Tyruko has the potential to extend the reach of natalizumab treatment for [MS] patients, increase healthcare savings and fuel innovation through competition in the market,” Keren…Continue Reading

Caverns, grandkids, my scooter and me. Does trouble lurk?

Luray caverns

My wife, Laura, thought it would be fun to take our grandkids, ages 7 and 9, to spend a few hours exploring a giant cave. I wasn’t so sure. Ten minutes into the excursion, I was wondering which one of the adults would be hauled out in an ambulance. Luray Caverns in Virginia bills itself as the largest caverns in the eastern United States. The pictures of stalactites and stalagmites…Continue Reading

Is your MS able to deal with disaster?

Disaster symbols

I’m sure you’ve seen the pictures of the wildfires that charred Maui, Hawaii. As I write this, more than ten days after the blaze, at least 111 people are known to have been killed. Some neighborhoods are gone. People literally ran from the flames. This past weekend thousands of people were fleeing a wildfire in Yellowstone, the capitol of Canada’s Northwest Territories. But my multiple sclerosis makes running impossible, and…Continue Reading

MS pain can be ubiquitous

Aaargh pain graphic

Multiple sclerosis is a pain in my butt — and other places, too. It hasn’t always been that way. For many years post-diagnosis, I didn’t notice much pain. But of the 43 years I’ve lived with MS, it’s hurt for the past 15. Usually, it’s just a dull ache in my lower back. I can also have a similar pain in my hips and butt. Once in a while, I…Continue Reading

A Big Birthday and Another MS Anniversary

birthday cake

“Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m 64?” Could Paul McCartney have imagined what life would be like at 64 when he wrote that iconic lyric as a teenager, or when the Beatles recorded it in their early 20s? I never could’ve imagined it when I was a teen, or even when I was 40. Later this week I’ll be 75, more than a decade…Continue Reading

I’m treating my MS to some healthier meals

Dinner table

My wife hates to cook, except for a big Thanksgiving turkey. I don’t know how to cook, except for scrambled eggs or meat on a grill. So for many years, our meals have pretty much been restaurant (eat-in or carry-out), ready-to-heat from the grocery store, frozen (lasagna or pizza), and, for my wife, microwaveable Keto diet food. It’s not very healthy, and probably worse for someone with multiple sclerosis. At…Continue Reading

Pills the most popular for 1st MS treatment

Pills

Times, they’ve been a-changin’ for disease-modifying therapies. When I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1980, there were no DMTs. The first, the injectable Betaseron (interferon beta-1b), was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1993 for relapsing-remitting MS. A few years later, I was thrilled to be included in the Phase 3 clinical trial of Avonex (interferon beta-1a), the second injectable, even though it required a self-injection…Continue Reading

Bottoms up: Drinking for my MS

Water glass for drinkinig

I’m drinking again, more than I have in years. It’s not the hard stuff, though; not even beer or wine. It’s just plain water. That may sound crazy for someone like me who has bladder problems due to multiple sclerosis. For many of us with MS, we think that water is something to avoid — mostly so we can reduce those gotta-go, gotta-go moments that have us sprinting for a…Continue Reading

Expedia ad aims at disabled travelers

expedia commercial

I nearly jumped for joy — well, I would’ve if I could’ve — when I saw a new TV commercial for the Expedia travel company the other day. It shows a woman who’s obviously had enough of winter’s cold, ice, and snow. She is desperate to escape to warmer climes — and needs to take her wheelchair with her. Been there, done that? I have, but I’d never seen an…Continue Reading