Multiple sclerosis
Exposure to sunshine for children and young adults may protect against multiple sclerosis (MS), new research has revealed.
Helius Medical Technologies is playing an increasingly central role in the growth of the neurostimulation market globally. Its PoNS device is changing the lives of MS patients in North America and helping to demonstrate the impact of non-invasive technology in neurological disorders. NR Times speaks to Helius’ CEO Dane Andreeff about its pioneering work
Two vital programmes to support people living with multiple sclerosis are broadening their reach in response to the increasing need from people with MS across the country, which has been exacerbated by the pandemic and the knock-on effect of a shortage of community resources and growing waiting lists.
An immunological molecule called fractalkine can boost the production of brain cells that produce myelin, a key factor in diseases such as MS, a study shows.
Depression is common in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), and a new study shows that people with both conditions may be more likely to die over the next decade than people with just one or neither condition.
A mother and son team who have devised a pioneering standing wheelchair are looking to partner with a manufacturer to bring their prototype to fruition.
The Walking Wheelchair enables people with limited use of their legs to assume a standing position, using a saddle therapy seat and Segway-style wheelbase. Its design, which is aimed at people living with conditions including Muscular Sclerosis, Cerebral Palsy, Motor Neurone Disease and spinal injury (L1-5), is protected by patent and has already won awards for its innovative design. It differs from what is already available through its saddle seat lifting the user’s weight vertically to standing, rather than a conventional seat which tips, and has a gyroscope to balance the standing weight instead of a counterweight. It also has a two wheel wheelbase with a tight turning circle rather than the standard six-wheel base.
Through the creation of BelongMS, people living with Multiple Sclerosis around the world are being supported in new and innovative ways. Its co-founder and CEO, Eliran Malki, shares the reasons for its foundation and the impact it is delivering
People who live with a chronic medical condition are often faced with a difficult choice: succumb to the condition or be proactive in managing it. Evidence shows that where sufferers are actively engaged, they maintain better mental health, which in turn has a positive effect on their physical health. The challenge is knowing where to turn to get the support that is best suited to their unique condition.
A Multiple Sclerosis (MS) diagnosis is often a life changing event, with huge worries and concerns being overriding emotions for those who are told they have the condition.
This was exactly the case for 30-year-old Annie, who found out she had MS just weeks before she discovered she was pregnant with her first child. For years she had been suffering with fatigue and tiredness, but despite spending hours doing her own research she could not work out what was causing it. After numerous hospital visits, she was given a diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome, although Annie said she ‘never really felt like that was the correct diagnosis’ for her. It would take a strange coincidence for her to eventually discover the problem, after she got a fly stuck in her eye in June 2020.
Pioneering new multiple sclerosis (MS) research projects - including three in the UK - have been awarded £1.2million as part of a renewed global effort to stop the condition.
The International Progressive MS Alliance will share the funds - up to £65,000 each - between researchers around the world through 19 Research Challenge Awards. Each winning project shares a united goal of discovering what causes MS to progress. By developing a clear understanding of what leads to MS progression, it is hoped this funding will speed up the development of much-needed new treatments for the condition. Professor David Baker, from Queen Mary University of London, is one of three UK researchers who has been awarded funding.
A medication for people with relapsing MS has been denied recommendation for NHS use England and Wales, despite it gaining approval from Scottish regulators earlier this year.
Ozanimod, or Zeposia, is a disease modifying therapy which is taken as a tablet and traps immune T-cells in the body’s lymph nodes. In a two-year clinical trial, it was shown to reduce relapses in those with active relapsing remitting MS by around 38 per cent, compared to beta interferon, an existing MS treatment. However, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has decided not to recommend it for people with relapsing MS on the NHS in England and Wales, confirming its provisional decision from January - despite the fact it was given approval by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC).
