What does your neurologist consider when he or she is deciding how best to treat your multiple sclerosis? A recent report from Spherix Global Insights, a business intelligence and market research company that looks at drug trends every quarter, sheds some light on that. In my last column I wrote about what that research revealed about the latest trends in disease-modifying drugs (DMDs): which treatments are hot and which are not. This column focuses on what that report has to say about how and why neurologists decide on the treatments they choose. Although the sample size is small, with only about 100 neurologists answering an online survey, it seems to do a good job of looking at this sort of thing. The neurologists surveyed are split on their treatment priorities. There was one goal that very few of the neurologists said they were interested in achieving. Only 2 percent thought it was important to stop the rate of their patients brain volume loss. That last bullet point, taking insurance coverage into consideration, appears to be becoming a much more common practice. A Spherix report from last April, DMT Switching in MS, says that in more than half the recent switches, … Continue reading →

Two different types of brain stimulation therapy are being tested to help relieve a number of MS-related symptoms such as leg spasticity and stress. Different types of brain stimulation are being tested, and also used, for the treatment of many multiple sclerosis symptoms. Two noninvasive brain stimulation procedures are showing potential and success in helping people with multiple sclerosis (MS) live better lives. One type is called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), and the other is called Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS). These two brain stimulation methods are different, yet both are finding their ways into MS research. In TMS, a large machine is used to create a magnetic field that introduces electric current into of the brain. The procedure is performed in a clinic by a lab technician. Between the two therapies, TMS is considered stronger and can make electrons fire. tDCS is not as strong and only encourages electrons to fire. TMS has been tested on a variety of MS-related symptoms over the years. These include fatigue, mood and attention, chronic pain, and oxidative stress. TMS is also used for moderating the blood brain barrier, which has also been found to be of clinical significance in the treatment of … Continue reading →

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders (Screenshot of White House video) (CNSNews.com) - President Donald Trump is taking heat for comments he made last week that some believe seemed to endorse police brutality against members of the MS-13 gang and criminal cartels. During an event to highlight law enforcements efforts to combat the MS-13 gang in Long Island, N.Y., the president said Acting ICE Director Tom Homans guys are rough. And I can tell you, I saw some photos where Toms guys -- rough guys. They're rough. I don't want to be -- say it because theyll say that's not politically correct. You're not allowed to have rough people doing this kind of work, Trump said. Later in the speech, Trump said, Right now, we have less than 6,000 Enforcement and Removal Officers in ICE. This is not enough to protect a nation of more than 320 million people. It's essential that Congress fund another 10,000 ICE officers -- and we're asking for that -- so that we can eliminate MS-13 and root out the criminal cartels from our country. He went on to say, Now, we're getting them out anyway, but we'd like to get them out a … Continue reading →

In case you missedthem, here are some news stories that appeared in MS News Today that caught my eye over the past week: Those of us with MS know that if something can repair our myelin, the nerve insulator attacked by MS, theres a good chance some of our MS symptoms could be reversed. So this announcement, written by Magdalena Kegel, certainly lit my radar. Though this trial is limited to patients with a different disease, its certainly encouraging that this type of trial is moving ahead. A cell therapy intended to boostmyelin regeneration Q-Cells byQ Therapeuticshas received agreen light from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to proceed with a clinical trial in patients with transverse myelitis (TM), a disease that, likemultiple sclerosis, is characterized by myelin damage. FDA approval of the companys Investigational New Drug (IND) application allows researchers to start a Phase 1/2 clinical trial in whichnine patients will receive increasing doses of the treatment. **** Neither of the statements in this headline should surprise someone who has MS, particularly if that person frequents MS web sites and Facebook pages. As Magdalena Kegel reports, Ocrevus has stirred up a ton of interest among patients and doctors since … Continue reading →