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Life with a chronic disease like relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) can present unique challenges, especially when it comes to doing some of the things that you love.
Just ask Chef Ben Ford, whose mother has been living with MS since he was a teen.
Former NHL player Bryan Bickell is battling Multiple Sclerosis (MS) but feeling great with Tysabri. Bickell may be off the ice, but he is on to bigger things as spokesperson for Biogen and running his non-profit, the Bryan and Amanda Bickell Foundation which helps rescue abused pit bulls and provide people in need with service dogs. The 31-year-old Bickell announced his plans to retire from the NHL after a successful 2016-2017 season as winger with the Carolina Hurricanes.
Since the 2015 playoffs with the Blackhawks Bickell had struggled with symptoms that didn’t seem related to the normal wear and tear of being a professional hockey player.
Living with Multiple Sclerosis meanscoping with a number of daily challenges. These stories of people living with MS tell that fatigue, pain, brain fog, constipation, hands feeling swollen like balloons, feet on fire, tingling pins and needles are all daily problems to be dealt with.
I would like to share some of these stories from people who live with Multiple Sclerosis with the hope to inspire other people.
The FDA has a approved a new drug to treat a rare and aggressive form of multiple sclerosis. Who should take the drug and what is the cost?
The medication, Ocrevus, that is given via infusion helped prevent the progression of primary progressive MS (PPMS) by twenty-four percent, compared to placebo.
Researchers at the Imperial College London are exploring a new treatment for multiple sclerosis that resets the immune system.
A clinical trial funded by the UK MS Society, the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research Centre, and by the European Blood and Marrow Transplant Autoimmune Disease Working P
Results of a new trial suggest that certain probiotics can improve mental health, metabolic function, and disability among individuals with multiple sclerosis. This study is just one of several that has explored the impact of beneficial bacteria on the symptoms and progression of multiple sclerosis.
Some people are skeptical about how much impact diet has on multiple sclerosis, yet at the same time there’s quite a bit of interest in the topic, especially since making dietary changes is a drug-free way to help manage the disease. Therefore it’s important to consider recently published research showing how a plant based diet benefits multiple sclerosis.
Previous research has suggested a link between obesity and an increased risk of multiple sclerosis, but some experts have questioned the validity of those findings because of bias related to study design. Now a new study has clarified the association between obesity and MS risk, using a model shown to significantly minimize bias and establish causality.
Previous studies of obesity and multiple sclerosis
Study results from both human and animal research indicate that a fasting diet could be effective for treating multiple sclerosis. The latest research, from the University of Southern California, showed that the fasting diet (aka, fasting-mimicking diet, FMD) reversed symptoms of multiple sclerosis in some animals and reduced them in others while improving symptoms in patients.
One critical component of the fasting type diet is the production of a substance called corticosterone.
The findings of a systematic review indicate that adolescent obesity could be a risk factor for multiple sclerosis. If future research supports this idea, it “would be of major significance,” according to experts at the University of British Columbia, especially given the rising number of children and adolescents who are overweight or obese.
Scientists around the world have been searching for the causes and risk factors for multiple scleros
The number of people with multiple sclerosis who experience taste problems (aka, taste deficits) is unclear, although some experts believe it ranges from 5 to 20 percent of individuals with MS. A new study from a team at the University of Pennsylvania’s Smell and Taste Center decided to explore this issue further.
Our sense of taste is closely associated with our sense of smell (olfactory).
Some people with multiple sclerosis decide to avoid yoga because they believe they won’t be able to do the poses or may feel embarrassed if they can’t keep up with others in the class. However, fortunately there is adaptive yoga for multiple sclerosis, which can make this beneficial form of exercise available to just about anyone.
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society explains that yoga can help individuals who have multiple sclerosis “as long as they find the appropriate class, teacher or video.” In recent years, a growin
Researchers are looking for volunteers for a new multiple sclerosis genetics study. The two populations of individuals needed are African Americans with multiple sclerosis, and their family members, as well as individuals of Northern European descent with MS.
Although the study is being conducted by researchers at the University of California in San Francisco (UCSF), participants can live anywhere in the United States and no travel or cost is involved.
Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, which is commonly used for patients with blood and bone marrow cancers, has been the focus of several studies for people who have multiple sclerosis. Now a new report from an Australian team offers some insight into this treatment approach, including which MS patients seem to be the most likely to benefit from it.
Hematopoietic (meaning “formation of blood or blood cells”) stem cell transplantation for multiple sclerosis is a tech
If upcoming study results are positive, people with multiple sclerosis may have a marijuana gum available for treatment of symptoms by 2017. The gum is made by AXIM Biotechnology, Inc. and is called MedChew Rx.
The marijuana gum has been tested for treatment of pain and spasticity in multiple sclerosis, and the
A new study suggests that commonly used food additives in processed foods could play a significant role in the development of multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune conditions. The study was conducted by experts from Israel and Germany and appears in Autoimmunity Reviews.
According to the authors of the study, food additives compromise the epithelial barrier by damaging the tight junctions that provide protection for the intestinal mucosa, which functions to protect
Vitamin D deficiency has long been linked to a person's chances of developing multiple sclerosis. Researchers recently tested 40 people with MS given higher than normal doses of vitamin D to see what effect the hormone had on T cells related to MS activity. They discovered vitamin D could help decrease MS activity.
The researchers may have uncovered an inexpensive and well tolerated option to help patients with MS.
Smell disorders (aka olfactory dysfunction) affect a significant number of people who have multiple sclerosis. A new study explains that olfactory dysfunction impacts the quality of life of MS patients and that a better understanding of this challenge could result in improved disease management.
A team at the Pennsylvania State University-Milton S.
An international team of researchers have proposed how vitamin D repairs myelin in multiple sclerosis. This finding could lead to new remyelination treatment options.
Numerous previous studies have discussed how vitamin D supplementation can have a favorable impact on the
The pomegranate is a challenging fruit with a tough rind, and it appears that fighting appearance harbors seeds with potential to battle multiple sclerosis. Researchers have found that pomegranate seed oil contains an extremely strong antioxidant that inhibited demyelination in a mouse model for MS.
Although it’s much too early in the game to stock up on pomegranate seed oil for multiple sclerosis, scientists have uncovered what appears to be a beneficial use for a nano droplet form of pomegra
Previous research has shown that biotin may be a potentially important treatment for progressive multiple sclerosis. In this new review, a team of experts have hypothesized two complementary reasons why this natural approach may work.
Review of results from two earlier studies
On one level, the question as to whether chocolate can make multiple sclerosis fatigue better seems like a frivolous question. Doesn’t chocolate make lots of things better? Yet on a more serious note, researchers at Oxford Brookes University are planning to take a comprehensive look at the impact of chocolate on fatigue levels among individuals who live with MS.
It’s no secret that chocolate, and specifically dark chocolate, is rich in flavonoids contained in cocoa.
Although it is still in the study stage, investigators have developed and tested a new non-drug, non-invasive device that improved memory and balance in individuals with multiple sclerosis. The new device, called the Portable Neuromodulation Stimulator (PoNS™), delivers neurostimulation through the tongue.
A pilot study of PoNS was conducted by the developer, Helius Medical Technologies, in 14 individuals, seven of whom had active multiple sclerosis and the other seven who served as controls.
Within several days of taking antiretroviral drugs to address possible HIV exposure, a 36-year-old woman with multiple sclerosis was able to get out of her wheelchair and walk again. This case and associated research highlight the question about the possible association between HIV and multiple sclerosis and the role of viral infections in causing this neurodegenerative disease.
Speech problems affect approximately 40 percent of people who live with multiple sclerosis. These speech challenges can occur routinely or sporatically and be mild to severe, but regardless of their presentation, it’s helpful for individuals with MS to understand what is happening and what they can do about it.
Trouble with speech in multiple sclerosis is highly individual.
Several female celebrities have embraced multiple sclerosis as a cause, each for her own reasons. Here’s a look at what three different well-known women have done to help advance knowledge, research, and treatment of multiple sclerosis.
J.K. Rowling
Canadian researchers have found that a generic antibiotic may reduce progression to multiple sclerosis after a person’s first demyelinating event. According to Luanne Metz, MD, of the University of Calgary and one of the study’s authors, “It’s a well-tolerated drug that requires no safety monitoring whatsoever.”
The drug is minocycline, a broad-spectrum tetracycline antibiotic that is used to treat acne, pneumonia and other respiratory infections, as well as infections of the skin, urinary, and genital sys
Previous research has suggested that high cholesterol has a negative impact on the development of lesions in the brain of individuals with multiple sclerosis. Now a scientific team from the University of Buffalo has shed some light on how good cholesterol (high-density lipoprotein, or HDL cholesterol) may live up to its name for individuals who have this disease.
The purpose of the study was to investigate the association between cholesterol and apolipoproteins with blood brain barrier (BBB) permeability and inflammation of the central nervous system after
Numerous studies, including a new meta-analysis, have explored the use of whole body vibration treatment for people with multiple sclerosis. Does this nondrug, noninvasive approach have a place in an MS treatment plan?
For multiple sclerosis patients who use Betaseron, the interferon beta-1b prescription drug designed to reduce relapses in individuals with relapsing-remitting MS, a new delivery system will be available soon in the United States. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Bayer’s BetaConnect, the first electronic autoinjector for treating RRMS.
The BetaConnect, which is already being used in Europe, will be made available in early 2016 exclusively to individuals in the US who take Betaseron.