News, info and tips for living with multiple sclerosis
Choosing the best disease-modifying therapy (DMT) to treat your MS can be a tough decision. When I was diagnosed with MS way back in 1980, it was easy. There were no DMTs to choose from. The first three — Avonex (interferon beta-1a), Betaseron (interferon beta-1b), and Copaxone (glatiramer acetate injection) — weren’t approved in the U.S. until the early-to-mid 1990s. Today, there are more than 20 MS treatments on the…Continue Reading
You may not have heard of Judy Heumann, who died March 4 at the age of 75. Although she’s not directly connected to the multiple sclerosis community, you should know about her. Everyone who lives with a disability owes her a great deal. Heumann was just 18 months old when she became ill in the 1949 polio epidemic. According to her website, doctors told her parents that she would never…Continue Reading
Medications and cognitive behavioral theory (CBT) have both been used to help control multiple sclerosis fatigue. But, what if they were used together? Would it make a difference?
If you have multiple sclerosis, I’m sure you’ve had several MRIs by now. You’ve probably also had one using a contrast agent. That contrast agent is made from a rare earth element called gadolinium. Mixed with other chemical ions, it highlights lesions or areas of active MS inflammation that would otherwise be difficult or impossible for a radiologist to see. It’s a useful tool, but there have been concerns about…Continue Reading
It was bound to happen. Even though it’s been more than three years since COVID-19 reared it head in Wuhan, China, and even though I’ve had five of the COVID-19 vaccine shots recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — two primary series doses and three boosters — plus the seasonal flu shot, COVID-19 finally found me. On a recent Thursday night, my throat began to feel…Continue Reading
Is treating multiple sclerosis only about being treated with a medication? At least one neurologist thinks so, and probably more. The other day, posting in an MS Facebook group, a woman named Debbie wrote about her first visit with a new neurologist: “He asked if I was on a DMD [disease-modifying therapy] and I told him not anymore. I’ve had bad experiences. He told me that he wouldn’t treat me…Continue Reading
Have you ever heard of an ABLE savings account? I hadn’t until a couple weeks ago. The acronym stands for the Achieving a Better Life Experience Act, a law passed by the U.S. Congress in 2014. It created special savings accounts that allow disabled Americans, including people with multiple sclerosis, to save money without jeopardizing their public benefits such as Medicare, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and food stamps. People in…Continue Reading
A recent question on the MS News Today Facebook page generated some buzz about getting a buzz on to treat your multiple sclerosis (MS). The question was, “What helps you the most to manage your daily life with MS?” Many people with MS said the thing that helped them most was using cannabis. A survey in 2020 reported that nearly half of people with MS in the U.S. said they…Continue Reading
A reader of my blog who lives in Belgium needs a replacement shoe sensor for his Bioness L300 functional electrical stimulator. The problem is, when Bioness upgraded the L300 to the L300 Go several years ago it stopped supporting the original FES. Apparently the sensor, which isn’t required for the L300 Go but is essential for the L300, is no longer available. Is there a sensor, lying unused, in somebody’s…Continue Reading
As you read this, a group of scientists is doing MS research high above the earth. Their laboratory is in orbit about 250 miles up, aboard the International Space Station. Working with researchers at the New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF), astronauts have been helping with a study about how astrocytes — cells that hold other cells together in the central nervous system — can be manipulated to halt or…Continue Reading