No two people living with multiple sclerosis (MS) experience it the same way, and symptoms of MS can be unpredictable and vary from person to person. The type and severity of symptoms will also be affected by whether people are tired, hot, fighting infection or just feeling under the weather. In multiple sclerosis, the protective covering of the central nervous system myelin is attacked and damaged, causing interruption to the usual flow of impulses along nerve fibres. Because this damage occurs at various sites, the symptoms each person experiences can vary enormously. These areas of damaged myelin are referred to as lesions or plaques. Sometimes damage is temporary and the body is able to make a partial repair but at other times the damage is more severe and becomes permanent. Below you will find a list of common symptoms that people with multiple sclerosis may experience. Remember, there are treatments to help manage almost all of them. Not everyone with MS will experience all of these symptoms and many of them will improve during periods of remission. Above all, remember you dont have to simply put up with MS symptoms. Almost all can be treated, so dont suffer in silence! … Continue reading →

Enthusiasm for a new medication to treat multiple sclerosis was tempered this week by news that a patient in Germany contracted a potentially deadly brain infection after switching to the drug Ocrevus. The German patient contracted progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) after switching from the MS medication Tysabri to Ocrevus in April, Reuters reported. Its unclear whether the PML stemmed from use of Ocrevus or from Tysabri, which has been linked to dozens of cases of the disease, the news agency reported. The European manufacturer, Roche Pharmaceuticals, is investigating the source of the infection. In March, the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of Ocrevus for treating multiple sclerosis and primary progressive multiple sclerosis, by the Roche subsidiary, Genentech Pharmaceuticals. Genentech said it is investigating the case but that the instance of PML is seen as a carry-over from natalizumab [Tysabri] by the treating physician. Patient safety is Roche and Genentechs highest priority and we are gathering more details about the case and the patients history, a Genentech spokesman said in an email to The Washington Times. We will continue to share information with healthcare providers and global health authorities as we know more. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society estimates … Continue reading →

Some 2.5 million people across the world have multiple sclerosis, but eachone has different needs when it comes totreating the disease, said Dr. Tracy DeAngelis, an MS specialist at New Hyde Park-based Neurological Associates of Long Island. MS is as individual as your fingerprint, so each treatment plan, each choice of therapy, needs to be specifically selected for the type of MS and the severity, and most importantly patient concerns about safety and tolerability and lifestyle, DeAngelis said. Neurological Associates is one of several institutions participating in a worldwide clinical research study that couldlead to big improvements in MS treatments, she said. The PASSAGE Study is currently testing the long-term safety of several MS treatments in patients who are starting new regimens or have relapsing forms of the disease, in whichsymptoms flare up during certain times and subside in others, DeAngelis said. The study, started in 2011 and expected to run until 2022, is evaluating how often Fingolimod, a drug that treats MS flare-ups, and other clinical treatmentshave negative effects in patients, according to ClinicalTrials.gov, a database of clinical studies maintained by the National Institutes of Health and the National Library of Medicine. Novartis, a drug company that manufactures and … Continue reading →

By Lauren Krugel The Canadian Press When Jill was 27, she woke up with tingling and numbness in her left hand that eventually spread to half her body. The Calgary woman, who did not want her last name used for fear it could hinder her future employment, went for tests and was told there was a possibility she would develop multiple sclerosis, a disease of the central nervous system. READ MORE: Fighting spirits band together in battle against MS Jill was enrolled two months later in a clinical trial led by University of Calgary researchers studying whether minocycline, a common acne drug, could be a more affordable treatment for those in the early stages of MS. I was happy in this case to help in any way I could, said Jill, now 34. It was an easy decision for me personally. The results of the Phase 3 trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday, showed that minocycline, an antibiotic, works just as well as the current available MS therapies. But instead of costing more than $20,000 a year in Canada, minocycline would have an annual price tag of just $600. Making treatment more readily accessible would … Continue reading →