Multiple sclerosis
Cross-talk between cells can modulate disease progression, research reveals
NR Times speaks to UCLA researcher Dr Kevin Patel about the potential of metformin in MS care and an upcoming human trial assessing its efficacy.
NR Times meets leading neuroscientist and MS expert Deborah Backus about the boundary-pushing research taking place at the Shepherd Centre in Atlanta.
Deborah Backus, vice president of research and innovation at the Shepherd Centre, Atlanta, has dedicated her career to researching MS and spinal cord injury. She initially began studying motor control in monkeys, but after a “lightbulb moment” during her PhD in neuroscience, she realised she needed to do more to “help clinicians understand the scientific evidence and how it can inform their practice”. As director of MS research at the world-leading hospital, Dr Backus is putting this passion into practice. The Shepherd Centre treats people across the entire continuum of care, covering spinal cord injury, acquired and traumatic brain injury, MS and chronic pain. Alongside its clinical work, the centre also contains corresponding research departments which carry out clinical trials that seek to directly improve clinical knowledge and patients’ quality of life. Dr Backus speaks to NR Times about the importance of translating research into clinical research and how her career has been shaped by a passion for making research actionable.
Remote walking exercise also found to be most beneficial, giving options in remote rehab
Gavin Crocker shares his experience of MS and how rehab is supporting him in his life
The MS Trust offers advice to help couples cope with the challenges of Multiple Sclerosis
People with Multiple Sclerosis, as well as loved ones and health professionals, urged to be part of the conversation
Study sheds new light on potential to limit or reverse disability from neurological condition
Study highlights its benefits to quality of life when compared with physical exercise
Her life's work has been to rid the world of MS and now Nancy Davis believes she’s getting ever closer. NR Times meets the tireless Race to Erase MS founder who has been the catalyst for 20+ FDA-approved MS therapies and US$50m in research funding.
A well-worn phrase from success coaching parlance says that the best way to take the island, is to ‘burn the boats’. Out of absolute necessity comes achievement – and after the point of no return, there is nothing to be done but move forward and get to it. That point for Nancy Davis came in 1991 when, at age 33, she was diagnosed with MS. Faced with a relative treatment black-out by today’s standards, and against the backdrop of an unhappy marriage, the fate of her three children as the disease progressed was necessity number one. Then there was the prospect of her own existence. A doctor said the best she could hope for was enough mobility function to operate a TV controller. And so sparked a race against time, not only to save herself, but to help others with MS avoid a similarly bleak outlook. Read on to find out how Nancy's journey since has helped to bring numerous new MS treatments to market and why she believes a cure for MS could be just five years away.
