Talking about Survey Reveals Economic Toll of MS
All over the world, of the people who quit working due to multiple sclerosis (MS), almost half did so within three years of being diagnosed with the debilitating disease, a new survey shows.
The Multiple Sclerosis International Federation surveyed people with MS in 125 countries.
The organization says in a news release that its report highlights the importance of allowing people with MS to work flexible hours so they can stay on the job.
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Advancing Knowledge of Emotional Adjustment to Multiple Sclerosis
We are seeking approximately 400 people who have Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and are over the age of 18 to participate in a study on better understanding emotional adjustment to MS. By “emotional adjustment” we mean how well you are dealing with having MS. We are looking for both people who are doing well and people who are having a hard time with having MS.
Participating in this research will involve you completing a questionnaire package about emotions such as anxiety and depression, what you do to cope, and how MS has affected you.
The questionnaire package can be completed either online or in a paper format. The survey is voluntary and confidential and will take approximately one hour to complete.
As a thank-you for your participation, $1 for every participant who completes the questionnaire package will be donated to the MS Society of Canada. Also, you may choose to be entered in a monthly draw for a $20 book store gift certificate!
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Talking about BioNews – Multiple Sclerosis stem cell therapy trialled
A clinical trial investigating the treatment of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) using bone marrow stem cells has produced encouraging results, researchers at Bristol University have reported.
In the phase I clinical trial, six MS patients were injected with stem cells harvested from their own bone marrow. The main aim of the study was to determine whether this procedure was safe and free from side effects. The researchers also regularly tested the patients for disease progression.
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Talking about Liberals seek MS debate – The Globe and Mail
Toronto MP Kirsty Duncan is leading the charge, pressing Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq call a meeting of provincial health ministers to develop a plan that would allow all Canadians with MS to have access to the procedure. She also wants the federal government to provide $10-million to Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada for research into a new hypothesis about the causes and treatment of MS.
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Talking about Procedure could result in rebuke for radiologist
A Victoria radiologist is facing possible professional rebuke for performing an experimental procedure said to cure the effects of multiple sclerosis.
Dr. Brian Weinerman, an oncologist and executive medical director of diagnostics for the Vancouver Island Health Authority, said he has spoken to the radiologist — who is now feeling a little chastened — and passed along a report on the matter.
The radiologist “was a little naive and he knows now what he did was beyond the bounds,” said Weinerman.
Last month, two people from Vancouver, both with multiple sclerosis, received a treatment at Victoria General Hospital in which veins draining blood from their brains were unblocked using balloon angioplasty.
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Talking about Catching multiple sclerosis before it strikes
Prof. Anat Achiron of Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine and vice-dean of research at Sheba Medical Center has uncovered a new way of detecting MS in the blood through her research at Sheba. The findings, just published in the journal Neurobiology of Disease, are expected to pave the way for a diagnosis of MS before symptoms can appear, allowing for earlier treatment.
“We are not yet able to treat people with MS to prevent the onset of the disease but knowledge is power,” Prof. Achiron says. “Every time we meet a new patient exhibiting symptoms of MS, we must ask ourselves how long this has been going on. We can diagnose MS by brain MRI, but we’ve never been able to know how ‘fresh’ the disease is,” she says.
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Talking about Protesters rally for access to MS treatment
OTTAWA — A fast, easy cure for multiple sclerosis has been found, but Canadian health officials won’t let MS victims have it, protesters said Wednesday on Parliament Hill.
About 200 people, many in wheelchairs, called on the federal government to get behind a new treatment they believe can cure the degenerative disease.
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Talking about CMAJ: Canadian trials to examine “liberation procedure” for multiple sclerosis
Researchers at St. Joseph’s Healthcare will test Zamboni’s proposition. “I have no doubt that there is an auto-immune component to MS. But what Zamboni has done is he has raised the awareness again that the vascular component could be real,” Rodger says. “So it could be auto-immune with a vascular component. And who knows what else? We don’t know.”
Rodger says his team is looking to establish the prevalence of CCSVI by comparing subjects who have multiple sclerosis and with age- and gender-matched healthy people. Those 100 people will be put in four categories: primary progressive, secondary progressive, relapsing and remitting, and benign.
“Specifically, we are going to measure by ultrasound and try to mimic almost exactly, if not exactly, what Zamboni has done. We’re also going to use MR [magnetic resonance] imaging to look at the architecture of the veins,” Rodger says. “We’re trying to see whether MR is superior to ultrasound. It’s obviously a lot more expensive. But you see different things with MR than you see with ultrasound. So really, we’re going to do a comparison.”
The University of British Columbia and Vancouver Coastal Health has partnered with the University of Saskatchewan to undertake a similar research project.
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Talking about Stem cell ‘reboot’ promising as MS cure
Stem cells are harvested from the patient’s blood. Next, the patient’s immune system is destroyed through intense chemotherapy. Then the stem cells are reintroduced with the hope that when the immune system grows back, it will no longer attack the nervous system.
“Kind of like rebooting a computer,” said the Windsor man.
Multiple sclerosis causes the body’s own immune system to attack the fatty myelin sheaths that surround the axons that transmit electrical signals between the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. This hampers the ability of the cells to communicate, leading to a weakening and wasting of the muscles.
Freedman and Atkins plan to release the results of the research later this year.
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