An Editorial By Montel Williams: "Walking an inch in my shoes" | Chicago Tribune
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By Montel Williams
Published October 31, 2006
"I awaken every morning--assuming that the spasticity that often claims my body has taken a night off--wondering what new or enhanced symptom multiple sclerosis will lay at my burning feet. Rather than exaggerating our symptoms, as misguided cynics have suggested, many of us living with neurological and other illnesses take great pains to hide our symptoms from loved ones, friends, colleagues--and that bitter group of people who believe that we somehow did something to deserve our suffering.

Many of us living with chronic illnesses, and I call us survivors, will do anything to appear "normal," to hold on to that last moment before we are greeted with sympathetic, knowing smiles or averted glances. Rather than exaggerating our symptoms, we squelch them with conventional and non-traditional medications, exercise, nutrition, bravado and sheer will.

The recent insults leveled at Michael J. Fox also are leveled at me, at the millions of survivors of various neurological scourges and a multitude of other illnesses. The poisonous invective from these cynics--politicians, pundits, journalists and their converts--are nails in the coffin of hope, that precious commodity that we survivors cling to when our (progressing) symptoms have us beaten down.

Stem-cell research holds promise for a multitude of illnesses including Parkinson's and multiple sclerosis, which Fox and I live with every day. And if embryonic stem cells, whose efficacy may be in dispute, offer us even one iota of promise, I'll take that iota. The other alternative is to do nothing at all. Not an option.

If the headline-grabbing cowards who mock the infirm had to walk one inch in the shoes of a survivor like Michael, like me, like the millions of others across this nation and the world, they would march, albeit unsteadily, to a different beat and support all stem-cell research. Basic common sense would demand it."

WARNING: THIS IS NOT APPROVED BY THE FDA

Scotland: Stem cell therapy helps MS woman BBC NEWS |
A young Inverness woman with multiple sclerosis has said she is able to walk for the first time in years only days after stem cell therapy

Amanda Bryson paid £12,000 for a course of injections in the Netherlands, which she believes could cure her. She has now called on the UK Government to make the treatment available here, but it said more research was needed. Ms Bryson was diagnosed with MS five years ago and has been almost totally wheelchair-bound. ...She read an article about stem cell treatment for her condition, unavailable in the UK, which was being carried out by a US company, Advanced Cell Therapeutics, in Rotterdam. The process, which she underwent last Friday, only took a few hours. It just filled me with hope for the future She said: "Within 10 minutes after the treatment I went to the bathroom on my wheelchair, I went to stand up and I thought I was jumping off my chair....She said: "It should be available to patients through their own choice, it's pretty upsetting that it won't be in this country for probably another 20 years."MORE FROM THE BBC

Biogen Idec Third-Quarter Net Rises Sixfold on Multiple Sclerosis Drugs
Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Biogen Idec Inc., the fourth-largest U.S. biotechnology company, said third-quarter profit jumped almost sixfold, beating analysts' estimates, after sales rose for one multiple sclerosis drug and another was reintroduced.

Net income increased to $156.6 million, or 45 cents a share, from $27.2 million, or 8 cents, a year earlier, when Biogen had costs for withdrawing Tysabri after the MS treatment was tied to a rare, fatal side effect, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company said in a statement today. The company also raised its 2006 forecast.

Revenue rose 18 percent as Tysabri was returned to the market in July, and sales of Biogen's nine-year-old Avonex MS treatment grew 19 percent from a year earlier. The company is seeking to use Tysabri to help end its reliance on Avonex, which generates about half the company's sales. Revenue also benefited from higher sales of the cancer drug Rituxan.

``Avonex is still a growth product,'' said Eric Schmidt, a Cowen & Co. analyst in New York, in an Oct. 26 telephone interview. ``The whole market is growing.'' Tysabri sales are ``making progress'' too, Schmidt said, though it will take time for the product to become a major growth driver.MORE

Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Shares of Avanir Pharmaceuticals fell the most in seven years after U.S. regulators delayed a decision on whether to approve the company's drug to treat a disorder that often causes unpredictable laughing or crying. The shares fell as much as 46 percent.

The medicine is designed to treat involuntary emotional expression disorder, which can accompany neurological injuries and diseases, including MS...The illness may affect more than 1 million people in the U.S., Avanir said. MORE

MS benefit offers support, aid - purpose of the event was not only to educate the public about MS, but also to encourage those with MS to maintain control of their health with continued exercise, even though it might bring short-term discomfort.
People navigating an obstacle course, children jumping rope, and a dozen patrons pumping their legs in a pack of more than 50 stationary bikes inside USF's Sun Dome set the stage for Saturday's Multiple Sclerosis Fitness Challenge and Health Fair.
Volunteers and vendors seemed to make up most of the crowd for the USF MS Research Fund's first organized benefit, but that did not deter its planners....

Krolczyk said the purpose of the event was not only to educate the public about MS, but also to encourage those with MS to maintain control of their health with continued exercise, even though it might bring short-term discomfort.

"It changes the body's temperature, and changes the conduction, which may make you fatigued and slow you down," he said. "But you still have to keep your muscles and everything in tone and shape, or else you're going to fatigue, and you'll fall and have more problems."
more

Biogen Idec Upgraded On Tysabri Outlook - Forbes.com
Bear Stearns upgraded shares of Biogen Idec to "peer perform" from "underperform" on Monday and said the prospects for multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri look brighter,..."The roll-out of Tysabri might be faster than we had originally expected," wrote Bear Stearns analyst Mark Schoenebaum in a research report.

The analyst based the promotion on new data released last week by Biogen Idec (nasdaq: BIIB - news - people )'s marketing partner Elan (nyse: ELN - news - people ), which showed that 4,500 patients have already enrolled in the Touch program, a strict safety monitoring system mandated by federal health regulators.MORE

Rape victim's family approves plea deal - The Herald Standard -
The family of a 66-year-old rape victim said they were not happy with a plea deal that imprisoned Ray ond "Luke" Prinkey for five to 10 years, but agreed to the sentence to spare the victim more emotion

"I think it's best not to put her under more stress than she's gone through and continues to go through," the victim's daughter said tearfully during Prinkey's sentencing hearing in Fayette County Court on Monday.

In July, Prinkey, 19, pleaded guilty to raping the woman, who has multiple sclerosis. State police trooper George Mrosko charged that he broke into the woman's home on April 23 using a key he found underneath a flowerpot.

The victim found Prinkey in her home, and he took her into her bedroom and raped her around 12:45 a.m., police said.

The victim's daughter and other family members said they were unhappy with the length of time Prinkey would get under the plea, but said the victim's health would suffer if she went through a trial.MORE

Inspiration is goal of cyclist with MS [Jacksonville Times]
It might be surprising that a 28-year-old multiple sclerosis sufferer just completed her fourth cross-country bicycle trek.

But that perception is exactly what Eve Steiner wants to change."I really feel like the word needs to get out that a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis is not a death sentence. It's not a go-home-and-sit-on-the-couch-and-cry-until-you're-done [situation]," she said. "You've got to take a pro-active approach. You've got to keep moving. I think: Use it or lose it."

Steiner, who has relapsing-remitting MS, certainly follows her own advice. On Saturday, she ended a 2,250-mile cycling tour of the East Coast that took her from Maine to Jacksonville. It was her fourth cross-country trek and the second to end in Jacksonville.

In 1998, four years after she was diagnosed with MS at age 16, Steiner traveled from Seattle to Washington, D.C., as part of an environmental fund-raiser. Four years later, she rode from Anchorage, Alaska, to Mexico, this time stopping in major cities to raise awareness for sufferers of MS, a chronic neurological disease that affects the central nervous system.MORE

Cladribine used to treat some cancers and possibly MS... scientists improve drug synthesis
A team of Brigham Young University researchers has come up with a more efficient way to synthesize the drug cladribine, the treatment of choice for certain "hairy cell" leukemias and a drug that is about to be tested as a possible treatment for multiple sclerosis. The finding was published this fall in the Journal of Organic Chemistry....

Besides treating some cancers, cladribine has been tried in various ways, says Robins — including recently gaining "fast-track" approval by the Food and Drug Administration for Serono to test its new oral cladribine treatment for MS.

"It would be very exciting if they have found ways to treat MS patients, because it's such a debilitating condition," Robins says. MS affects about 2 million people worldwide.MORE

Stem cell recipient positive Mexican procedure working
Monday, October 30, 206 - The Express-Times - By DANIEL HAUSMANN

"Ed Johns says he feels like a new man"

"The effects of his MS are not as pronounced, something he attributes to a stem cell treatment he underwent in Tijuana, Mexico.

He returned Oct. 13 and has noticed a renewed vitality which increases every day, he said.

Before getting the treatment, merely walking down the stairs was difficult, Johns said. Now he's back to using the personal gym machine in the basement of his North Boulevard home.

Johns, like other Americans, went to Mexico to receive the umbilical cord stem cell treatments because such therapies are not available in the United States.

Before going he was depressed, constantly exhausted and relying on a walker to get around his home. Family members and doctors described his condition as declining.

Despite that diagnosis, Johns' physician, Dr. Thaddeus Aversa, said he was cautious of endorsing stem cells as the answer to multiple sclerosis.

Stem cell research is a new area of science that hasn't been around long enough to know the long-term benefits, Aversa said, prior to Johns' trip.

However, Aversa said, Johns had gone the conventional treatment route with drugs designed to prevent the immune system from attacking nerve cells. Those therapies did not seem to help, the doctor said.

Some scientists say stem cells have the potential to repair damaged cells. However, the federal Food and Drug Administration has not signed off on allowing such treatment in America."



"HERE ARE A FEW OF THE COMMENTS ON THE ABOVE ARTICLE THAT HAVE BEEN POSTED ON OUR MySpace PAGE:....CLICK HERE TO VISIT OUR MySpace PAGE

OK I think stem cells are the answer toward a cure for MS and many many other illnesses... but I have heard horror stories about going over the border with surgeries.... I will wait.................

Posted by Jeannine on Monday, October 30, 2006 at 8:46 AM

I'll wait as well! There's NO WAY I'd go to Mexico for a medical procedure. The stem cell research is great. I totally support it, but if I ever cross the border to have something done, it will be the one to the north.

Posted by Lora on Monday, October 30, 2006 at 7:18 PM

We may never have the benefit or even the option of this method if the government doesn't learn to seperate politics from health issues. Some people can not get the help they need for medications but yet the top story on the news is about Micheal J. Fox shaking his head to much in support of stem cell research. So if we cannot get it here in our own country what should we do? Wait for our politicians to decide for us?Who knows......

Posted by P.S. I love you.... on Monday, October 30, 2006 at 7:50 PM

"CLICK HERE TO VISIT OUR MySpace PAGE...GO TO THE TOP RIGHT OF THE PAGE ON OUR BLOG

REBIF & COPAXONE: From new ideas to Nobel prizes, Israeli university research forges ahead
[PHOTO: Professors Aaron Ciechanover, 57, (right) and Avram Hershko, 67, in their lab at the Technion-Israeli Institute in Haifa.]
If the high tech and biotech industries are the engines that have been driving the Israeli economy over the past five years, it is the nation's universities that have provided the fuel: brainpower.

Behind nearly every Israeli business success story is an idea which born in a laboratory in one of the country's impressive institutions of higher learning.

Innovation at Israeli universities, of course, is nothing new. But what has rapidly improved has been the journey from university to the marketplace. Once a rough and rocky path filled with obstacles, the road to commercialization has become smoother and more efficient, thanks to the level of assistance and support provided by the universities themselves.

The past five years has seen a blossoming and expansion of what are known as technology transfer companies: businesses housed on campus that are devoted to taking the products of the university's minds, presenting them to the business world, and guaranteeing, with its proactive role, that the universities benefit financially from the ideas that they foster.

Israel's best-known technology transfer company, admired and imitated around the world, is the Weizmann Institute's Yeda Research and Development.

"In all, Weizmann scientists have been responsible for well over 1,000 registered patents, many of which have been developed commercially.

Among its licenses are two of the four drugs used in the United States and worldwide to treat multiple sclerosis - Copaxone made by Israel-based Teva Pharmaceuticals, whose annual sales top $360 million, and Rebif, made by Ares Serono of Switzerland and developed by its subsidiary Interpharm, whose sales exceed $370 million. "

"MS forum hears of pot's benefits":

The Winnipeg Free Press
Marijuana, the illegal street drug that can get you arrested and jailed, remains a medicine people with MS hate to admit they use.

Cannabis -- the formal name for marijuana -- along with various other medicinal herbs and nutritional supplements like vitamins K, D, B-12 and omega-three fish oils, are attracting patients nevertheless, Ceaser said.

The Charleswood health practitioner cited THC, the active ingredient in cannabis, as a nerve-affecting element that soothes spasms, eases pain and promotes sleep. Doctors can help patients get federal approval to use it.

Conference spokeswoman Gwenda Nemerofsky confirmed there are people in Manitoba who have applied to Health Canada for legal permits to use marijuana as medicine.

"But most will not come forward," she said.

Some take it by prescription in forms like nasal spray. Others roll it up in cigarette papers and smoke it. Some even grow it.

The conference focused on the social and emotional devastation that can accompany a diagnosis of MS and ways, including pot, that patients can cope better....

Dr. Michael Schapiro, an expert in MS from the Minneapolis Clinic for Neurology, said his mother had the disease, so he understands how hard it is for patients and their families to live with it.

But the American doctor is not keen on marijuana as a solution, especially if it's smoked.

Studies show smoking pot can block symptoms like muscle tremors, the doctor said. And prolonged toking can kill off brain cells in the same way alcohol abuse does. It can also cause respiratory diseases, like tobacco-smoking does.

"It's not just a casual thing," Schapiro said.more

Multiple Sclerosis No Longer a Death Knell for Patients


By Nancy Young, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

Oct. 29--"The crippler of young adults."

Those words rang in Rick Powell's head after he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1980 at the age of 26. He figured he was doomed to a short life in a wheel chair.

That was all he had heard about the disease that can cause severe nerve damage. It was all anybody seemed to know -- or would know until recent years, when breakthrough treatments started to become available.

"Gathering information about what MS was, at that time, was somewhat difficult," said Powell, 53. "When I was first diagnosed I was completely frightened. 'The crippler of young adults ' scared me completely."

Things have changed.

"The outlook is certainly much more hopeful" now, said Dr. Thomas Pellegrino, chairman of the neurology department at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk. "Twenty years ago, I would have told them, 'There's nothing I can do.' "

But while the medicine that deals with MS has made leaps and bounds -- if still short of a cure -- the public perception of the disease is often still stuck in the wheelchair Powell feared.

"They don't know about MS now," said Sharon Grossman, president and chief professional officer of the Hampton Roads chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, which serves about 2,600 clients in the region.

A couple of decades ago, it might take years just to get a good diagnosis. Even with a diagnosis, until the late 1990s, there wasn't much more that doctors could say other than " 'You have MS. Now go home and live with it,' " Grossman said.

Multiple sclerosis -- which affects about 400,000 Americans, the majority of them women -- continues to be something of a...MORE

Poll: Wyo. House Race Gets Tighter
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - The Democratic candidate in the race for Wyoming's only House seat has nearly caught up to Rep. Barbara Cubin after a third candidate accused the Republican of threatening to smack him, a poll published Sunday found.

Rankin, who has MS and uses a wheelchair, said that after a debate, Cubin "walked over to me and said, 'If you weren't sitting in that chair, I'd slap you across the face.'"

Cubin's version is that she challenged Rankin's debate assertions and said, "If you had said that to anyone else, they probably would have smacked you."...more

HORROR STORY OF DRUG TEST GONE WRONG!! THANK GOODNESS FOR THE FDA (sometimes we dont think so))
"I've lost everything"

(London Daily Mail) ON THURSDAY Ryan Wilson will go to hospital to have the third and fourth fingers of his left hand amputated at the second knuckle. It will be a relief, he says, to get rid of them. They are blackened and shrivelled through blood poisoning, with the appearance of severe frostbite, and he does not dare get them damp because wet gangrene - unlike dry gangrene - spreads and he doesn't want to lose his whole hand......

...The trials at a special unit in Northwick Park Hospital, North London, went disastrously wrong within minutes of the volunteers being injected with the drug. All Ryan remembers is the terrible pain which erupted in his body before everything went black and he fell unconscious.

It was the first time he had volunteered for a drug trial and he wanted the GBP2,000 fee for driving lessons.

Today, how he regrets not listening to his father Billy, who phoned him at the hospital the night before the trials began to say: 'Don't do it, just walk out now. Your body is more important, forget about the money.' As it was, Ryan paid a terrible price for what he thought would be a virtually risk-free way of making a bit of extra cash.

His body swelled to three times its normal size and he was in a medicallyinduced coma for two and a half weeks.

He spent 147 days in Northwick Park Hospital. He suffered multiorgan failure, pneumonia and septicaemia which caused his fingers and toes to turn gangrenous. He also lost four stone in weight.

There were so many tubes and wires attached to his body that there was no space left for his family to touch.

He remembers, despite being in a coma, being able to hear doctors saying to his relatives: 'He is so critically ill, we don't think he'll make it.' He also heard another of the seriously ill victims, Mohamed Abdelhady, tell doctors: 'Don't worry about melook after him, he's dying.' Ryan's mother Marion, 50, recalls a doctor crying as he told her; 'He's only 20 and I just don't know how to save him. He's slipping away from us and all we can do is watch and wait.' Against all the odds Ryan survived.

When he came round, stunned doctors told him 'You shouldn't be here.

You should be dead.' Ryan returned home in August to the Islington flat he shares with his Irish mother, who is separated from his Scottish father Billy Wilson, a carpenter and joiner. But he is not out of the woods yet - and may never be....

TeGenero filed for insolvency in July - citing the 'unforeseen' results of the tests as the reason.

The company had a GBP2million insurance policy, but lawyers have called that 'wholly inadequate'.

The men are now taking legal action against Parexel, the U.S-based company that ran the trial.

Ryan says: 'I had 45 years of work ahead of me, earning GBP100,000 a year, now I don't know if I am ever going to work again.

MORE FROM THE UK: London Daily Mail

New apartment complex makes life easier for the those for people who have a disability and live on a limited income: Kansas City Star
Patricia Maltbia-Smith had the empty moving boxes for months. All she needed was the telephone call. On Tuesday, the 47-year-old Kansas City, Kan., woman learned she would be among the first residents in a new apartment complex designed for people who have a disability and live on a limited income.

For Maltbia-Smith, who has MS, the expected move next month will mean a place that is more affordable and more accessible.

And there is one other benefit. “Now I can just concentrate on getting as healthy as I can get,” she said....more

"...instead of M.S. becoming her problem she decided to make it her solution: SHAMPOO FOR M.S."
A new company named HARDCORE HAIR has launched their extreme moisture shampoo and conditioner which is herbicide, pesticide and fertilizer free and contained in a recyclable bottle. Plus, a percentage from every sale goes towards the M.S. Society...The company founder, Sherry Carson, became a hairdresser at 16 and bought her first salon at age 26, got married and had her first of two children. Sherry received her diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis, ...

So, instead of M.S. becoming her problem she decided to make it her solution. She thought why can’t she get people to Shampoo for M.S.? In a time when people are getting back to their roots of helping one another, Sherry thought what better way to give back by simply shampooing your hair! She said she is Hardcore about finding a cure for M.S. Her goal is to raise awareness of, and educate the public about Multiple Sclerosis. She wants to be part of the solution to finding a cure...MORE

MS Poker Run and Antique Car Show: Arkansas Daily Record
Car enthusiasts, bikers rally MS

"Merciful Ruling On Suicide" (from UK Guardian)
The chairman of Sutton and Croydon Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Centre has been given a suspended sentence and 50 hours of community service for helping his wife to commit suicide.

David March pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey on September 14 to aiding and abetting the suicide of his wife, Gillian, who had suffered from crippling multiple sclerosis (MS) for more than 20 years.

He was sentenced last Thursday to nine months in jail, suspended for a year. He was also ordered to do 50 hours unpaid work which he will complete at the therapy centre in Mount Lloyd Avenue.
continued...

The court heard Mr March, 58, arrived home last September to find his wife slumped in her chair having overdosed on valium. She had put a bag over her head and tied it with string round her neck.

Mr March tied the string tighter and when she died 30 minutes later he called an ambulance.

Mr March was charged with murder but this was later changed when a pathologist stated that his 59-year-old wife may not have survived even without his intervention....MORE

If a sibling has multiple sclerosis, you are 15 to 25 times more likely to develop it yourself. [The Chronicle Herald]
As a teenager, Dessa Sadovnick screened Disney movies in an empty classroom to raise money for multiple sclerosis research. Now the University of British Columbia geneticist spends her time studying the disease.

"My involvement with MS has gone back since before I was born, and it seemed like a natural evolution to just go on and study MS as I got older."

Ms. Sadovnick spoke of the connection between genetics and multiple sclerosis at the MS research luncheon Thursday in Halifax.

Multiple sclerosis recurs more often in families than in the general population, her study found. If a sibling has multiple sclerosis, you are 15 to 25 times more likely to develop it yourself.

Identical twins have identical DNA. There is a 34 per cent chance both twins will develop multiple sclerosis, according to the study. But there is only a 5.2 per cent chance that both fraternal twins — who only share half their DNA — will get the disease.....more

US doctors still wary of Elan drug TYSABRI- survey
US doctors are proving more wary than many had expected about prescribing Elan's multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri, which was relaunched in July after being suspended because of safety concerns.

Over the past month or so, analysts have drawn down their 2006 sales forecasts as it becomes clear that doctors wary of the risk of the rare but potentially fatal brain disease PML are reserving the drug as a treatment of last resort.

The drug, which is made by Elan and its US Biogen Idec, had been expected by some analysts to generate sales this year of more than $100m, but those figures have dropped dramatically.

Ian Hunter, an analyst at Goodbody stockbrokers, said yesterday that he has cut his full-year Tysabri forecast to $25.7m from $78m, partly because of continuing safety concerns and the complexity of reimbursement systems in Europe.

A survey of 63 US neurologists indicates that in 2006 Tysabri will be used in less than 1% of multiple sclerosis patients - translating into revenue of under $30m.

Since July, only 47 of more than 8,500 patients treated by US physicians surveyed had used Tysabri, even though more than 700 patients had discussed using it, according to the report.

And more than 75% of the patients who had used Tysabri prior to its 2005 suspension have decided not to use it since its reintroduction..... MORE

Ohio man's trips inspire MS victims
Bedding, a cell phone, food, a Bible and deodorant are all items John Latecki keeps in his canoe.

The boat, which he named after his sister Julie McAfe, acts as a transportation device, a "water" bed, a cooking platform and a shelter in weather emergencies during his journeys, which often last months at a time. McAfe was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1996, and since 2000 when she lost her sense of smell, Latecki has been on a mission to not only understand the disease better, but also to bring about awareness.MORE

Fampridine-SR
Trial Results Give A Lift To Biotech

What a difference a positive phase three clinical trial makes. Ask Acorda Therapeutics.
From its $6 initial public offering in February, Acorda's (ACOR) stock took a short-lived 15% leap, then went downhill to $2.20 at the end of September.
When the firm announced positive results from phase three trials of its multiple sclerosis drug, Fampridine-SR, on Sept. 25, the stock price nearly quadrupled in a day. Shares continued soaring and now trade near $16.
On Oct. 4, Acorda announced a private stock placement for $31.5 million to finance marketing. On Oct. 17, it said it'll double its sales force from 32 to 65.
It's unusual for a profitless biotech to have a sales force, let alone double it. But having its own sales force makes sense in this case, says analyst Caroline Stewart of Piper Jaffray, which has done business with Acorda.
Though it's a struggling biotech, Acorda does have a product to sell. It's called Zanaflex and is used to manage spasticity. Spasticity is a neurological disorder, as is multiple sclerosis. Many multiple sclerosis patients suffer from spasticity.
The same specialists treat both groups, Stewart says. "The sales force is already out there selling Zanaflex and developing relationships with neurologists for Fampridine-SR," Stewart said.
Zanaflex should bring in sales of $20 million this year and $30 million in 2007, analyst Elemer Piros of Rodman & Renshaw wrote in a research note.

That's pocket change compared with the potential of Fampridine-SR. Piros figures the drug could hit annual sales of $425 million by 2017, its last year of patent protection....MORE...Fampridine-SR

TH

Celebration Gala Concert To Benefit Care For Adults With Multiple Sclerosis...more
Dorchester, MA -- On Thursday, Nov. 9, 600 supporters of The Boston Home will assemble for a Benefit Gala Concert in the Ballroom at the Campus Center at UMass Boston to kick off the non-profit organization’s 125th anniversary celebration, as well as its Campaign for Care. The Boston Home is a sustaining community for adults with advanced Multiple Sclerosis and other progressive neurological diseases.....

Richard Cohen explained he discovered a trend that became a power influence in his life: People afflicted with MS want to talk to people in the same boat..."The Waterbury Connecticut Newspaper"
Cohen, who wrote a best-selling book about his struggles with the disease, at home and at work, explained he discovered a trend that became a power influence in his life: People afflicted with MS want to talk to people in the same boat.

"It's positive reinforcement no matter where you look," said Canton resident Zimmerman, bracing herself with a wooden cane as women rolled by in wheelchairs. "We all have the same diagnosis, but we each have our own disease."..MORE: "The Waterbury Connecticut Newspaper".

"Hi Stan....This site has cut out hours of my surfing for news. now i just use u stan. im glad were friends now HERES ME:

august 28 1987 a girl was born exactly 18 years and 14 days later and a girl died. That girl was me. On the 11th September 2005 i went into hospital and emerged 8 days later a changed person.

On wednesday 14th September i was diagnosed with MS.





It was like a dream. A nightmare. In the room everyone who i loved was so sad as if someone had died. I suppose a part of me died that day. I didnt even notice. It never dawned on me. I was in denial. I was dying inside. I was screaming but no one could hear me. I was crying evernight but no one noticed. I have never felt more alone. I was alone. Everyone offered me support and was there for me constantly and that was great. But no one knew of the pain i endure every single day, each step i wince inside, everytime i put on my clothes i feel 100 pins sting me. I feel like this 24/7.

But still i smile on, but still im a happy person

I am a stronger person than i have ever been. exactly 1 year ago and 14 days a new girl was born. Im growing to accept and appreciate that person. That person was me"- Chloe

High court overturns pot activist's conviction: The Globe
[photo:Grant Krieger, smokes marijuana in the bedroom of his Calgary house. Krieger, who has MS, is an advocate of medicinal marijuana use.]

Ottawa — The Supreme Court of Canada has overturned the conviction of a medical marijuana crusader on charges of possession of pot for purposes of trafficking.

In a 7-0 judgment, the court granted a new trial to Grant Krieger of Calgary, who says he should have the right to distribute marijuana to people who need it to ease the pain of serious illness.

Krieger himself suffers from MS and has legal permission to smoke pot for medical purposes.

He doesn't have permission from the federal government to supply it to others — but freely admits that he's done so anyway.....more: The Globe

Multiple Sclerosis fundraiser to be held on campus - The Florida Oracle
Over 500 people from around the community are expected to attend the Multiple Sclerosis Challenge being held this Saturday at the Sun Dome. As a first of its kind, the Challenge will host a variety of events to raise awareness and money for the Multiple Sclerosis Research Fund, an organization under the umbrella of the University of South Florida Foundation, Inc. "We just started the fund," sophomore and administrative assistant of the neurology department Eli Pano said. "We don't have a budget yet, so we're doing this as a big old fundraiser."...more at The Florida Oracle

RICHARD PRYOR - PRYOR'S KIDS FIGHT WIDOW OVER LAST WILL AND TESTAMENTRichard Pryors kids are ganging up on his widow JENNIFER in a bid to get what they think is rightfully theirs. The family has been feuding for years but the spat spiralled out of control at the end of last year (05) after Pryor died of a heart attack.

And now, ELIZABETH PRYOR - one of the funnyman's six children - has filed suit against Jennifer, accusing her of forging his last will and testament.

Elizabeth is hoping to have a will her father signed shortly before his death, when he was allegedly debilitated by MS, ruled illegal and an earlier one, in which he split his fortune between his kids, reinstated. In the 65-year-old comic's final will, he left the bulk of his estate to his widow, who nursed him through his final years as multiple sclerosis slowly robbed him of his life. A family friend tells US tabloid the National Enquirer, "The kids have declared war on Jennifer to get what they believe is rightfully theirs."

Stillwater NewsPress - Fighting MS from the seat of his shorts
• Bicyclist covers more than 190,000 miles to raise money

Jon Kocan
Stillwater NewsPress
Bicyclist Thomas Beasley has come a long way to get to Stillwater. Beasley has covered more than 190,000 miles in 54 cross-country bike tours to raise money for multiple sclerosis in his biking across America campaign.

Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Beasley will be peddling around town in a red, white and blue helmet and jersey raising money to fight MS. This is Beasley’s first stop in Stillwater but not his first trip to Oklahoma.

Beasley started riding across the country and raising money in January 1991, after his trainer for the Tour de France and friend died from MS. The current trip started in Tucson, Ariz., on Feb. 2, and took him through California, up to Seattle, then to Billings, Mont., and down the Great Plains. Beasley last stopped in Tulsa before riding to Stillwater on Tuesday.

Beasley’s goal is to raise more than $100,000 and he has done that; he said he is now at $104,480. With little more than his Cannondale bicycle and Burley trailer, Beasley has traveled through towns and cities. He said his bike and trailer weigh approximately 180 pounds and the hills of Oklahoma are more of a challenge than they look.MORE: Stillwater NewsPress

WATCH VIDEO: Selling CDs as a MS Fundraiser: Tri-Cities, Yakima, WA |
Washington state has one of the highest rates of Multiple Sclerosis in the nation. A fundraiser is currently going on to help MS patients and to educate people about the disease.

Jamie Hagarty was diagnosed with MS in 2004. Through October and November she is standing outside Wal-Marts in Pasco and Richland to help raise awareness and selling CDs to support MS patients.

The CD is called "Everyone Falls" and is a collection of music by Julladair Carlson and Erik Kjelland.

Agency provides ‘aid’ to benefit seeker MSPatients: Niagara Gazette
Joseph Eisen suffers from Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis, a disease very difficult to treat because of its unique symptoms.

He does as much as possible for himself, but the disease's progression intensifies difficulties with his daily routine.

The last thing he has time to worry about is the long and sometimes frustrating application process for disability benefits. That’s where the Niagara County Legal Aid Society stepped in.

“They've taken the nightmare out of the bureaucratic system," said Eisen who is among a small percentage of the multiple sclerosis population to suffer from the primary progressive portion of the disease.

Word of mouth brought Eisen to the Legal Aid Society, which is one of the agencies supported by the United Way of Niagara. He sought help with the process of receiving his due benefits from social security, which could sometimes take two years. Legal Aid has streamlined the preparation process by.... MORE: Niagara Gazette
organizing the multitude of paperwork

Mixing business with love: Wife's illness inspires sitting service
- The Clarion-Ledger
Few things will push a man to start a new business when he reaches his 50's and has 15 years of service in with a state institution, especially when the change has nothing to do with quick wealth or some pent-up dream gnawing at him.

Bill Gittins did it in the name of love - and a promise he made to his wife, Beth, shortly after they were married in 1992 that he would never allow the multiple sclerosis that was invading her body to force her into a nursing home.

"I even asked him, 'Bill, are you sure you want to do this?' " says Becky Hudgens, a longtime friend of the couple and the president/CEO of Methodist Children's Home in Jackson. "I mean, he is the sole provider for them. He had retirement. But he just said it was something he had to do for Beth.

"I admire him so much for what he's done, how he put Beth ahead of everything."

On June 1, Gittins opened Right At Home, a franchised in-home care and assistance agency for seniors and disabled persons.MORE
- The Clarion-Ledger

UK - Vikings Sailing Club raises $$$ for MS...MORE
The sum was collected during the fifth edition of the 50 hr. Sailing Marathon held last August.

The Multiple Sclerosis Society is in dire need of premises where members can gather and support each other. The sum collected during this sailing marathon will serve as an incentive to start collecting the necessary funds to be in a position to acquire the useful premises....

Young bicyclist rides for good cause: More at: New Orleans News: "Gerard Braud, 14, said he met his 'personal challenge' to complete the two-day, 150-mile Multiple Sclerosis Tour for the Cure. Gerard, son of Patrick and Casey Braud, is a freshman at Jesuit High School."

2,800 have registered for Tysabri
In the United States, where Biogen Idec manufactures the drug and Elan distributes it, US$5.4 million (4.3 million) of Tysabri was sold to 1,700 patients, while another 2,800 have registered for potential treatment.

WATCH TERI GARR VIDEO -CLICK TO WATCH VIDEO: NBC Today Show:
"Today" show host Meredith Vieira talks with Teri Garr about MS, a disease she lived with for almost 20 years before being officially diagnosed. Garr was invited on “Today” to discuss her book, “Speedbumps: Flooring It Through Hollywood,” written with Henriette Mantel, which will be available in paperback next week, her life, and her upcoming movie, “Unaccompanied Minors.” Read an excerpt of her book:

Chapter one...Hollywood: This Mess Is a Place
On March 29, 1982, the day of The Academy Awards, I woke up excited and ready to go to the Oscars for the first time in my life (I’d always watched them on TV, like everyone else). It was a perfect day in L. A., the same beautiful day any self-respecting Los Angeleno takes for granted. Outside my window the skies were blue and a hummingbird flirted with the lemon tree.

But today was different. I had been nominated for an Academy Award for my performance as Sandy Lester, Dustin Hoffman’s neurotic, struggling actress girlfriend, in “Tootsie.” Under Sydney Pollack’s direction, “Tootsie” had been a runaway hit starring Dustin as an unemployed actor who pretends to be a woman in order to land a role in a soap opera.....CLICK TO READ THE REST OF CHAPTER ONE

The Accelerated Cure Project for MS, a national nonprofit organization, today announced the formation of their MS Repository
The initial phase of the repository development will collect blood samples from 1,000 subjects across the country and make them available to researchers investigating the causes of MS, providing them with immediate access to a far greater number of samples than most scientists could collect themselves. Limited sample size is one of the most frequently cited reasons for inconclusive results in MS research to date. After reaching the 1,000 subject milestone, the Accelerated Cure Project intends to continue enrolling subjects with an eventual goal of recruiting 10,000 participants....MORE

Biogen Idec reported positive Phase II data from its product BG-12, which could potentially become the first oral therapy for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. ...."Genentech also announced positive top-line Phase II data from its product Rituxan in multiple sclerosis (MS), suggesting the drug could play a prominent role in future MS-therapy. Rituxan is already a multi-billion dollar product approved for the treatment of Non-Hodgkins lymphoma and rheumatoid arthritis."

Diamonds are a cure's best friend [More: Times of Indiana
Jewelry auction benefits MS society

UK..."I Wont Leave" (more from this is oxfordshire): " Christian Pattison, back right, says MS patient Vincent McKeown, front, will have to be dragged 'kicking and screaming' from his Abbey Place home"

UAMS Researcher Receives $348,000 Grant to Study MS [ArkansasBusiness.com]
A researcher at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock has been awarded a $348,487 grant from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society to study the cause and possible therapies for multiple sclerosis, or MS, a chronic neurological disease affecting multiple regions in the brain and spinal cord.

Patricia Wight, Ph.D., professor of physiology and biophysics at UAMS, will use the grant to investigate how myelin proteins are regulated at the level of the genemore

Body of Missing Fullerton Woman with MS Ruled Homicide [more on abc 7]

The Clear Channel NY Radio Champs, lead by team captain and WLTW on-air personality, Valerie Smaldone recently raised over $6,000 and rode in the MS Bike Tour...MORE

'Laverne and Shirley' actor (Squiggy) David Lander works for cause close to his heart:: King County Journal ::
Fans of the 1970s hit TV show "Laverne and Shirley" knew him as Squiggy, the greasy-haired neighbor with the screechy voice.

What they may not know about actor David Lander is that for 15 years, he hid a secret.

He has multiple sclerosis.

He was 34, married and the father of an 11-month-old daughter when he was diagnosed 14 years ago.

Beset by unexplained symptoms, including numbness in his fingers and arm that came and went, he was "beginning to feel like a hypochondriac."

One day, he woke up unable to walk.

"I couldn't balance. I had no strength," he says.

His doctor ordered a spinal tap.

"He told me I either had a brain tumor, which would be fatal, or MS, which isn't," he says.

Either way, "he told me I'd never walk again."

And then came the diagnosis. "He was talking. I was hearing," Lander recalls. "But it was all a surrealistic state. Back then, there were no treatments. He told me 'There is no cure. The only guarantee I can make is it will get worse.' It was pretty grim."

As it turns out, the doctor was wrong.Fans of the 1970s hit TV show "Laverne and Shirley" knew him as Squiggy, the greasy-haired neighbor with the screechy voice.

What they may not know about actor David Lander is that for 15 years, he hid a secret.

He has multiple sclerosis.

He was 34, married and the father of an 11-month-old daughter when he was diagnosed 14 years ago.

Beset by unexplained symptoms, including numbness in his fingers and arm that came and went, he was "beginning to feel like a hypochondriac."

One day, he woke up unable to walk.

"I couldn't balance. I had no strength," he says.

His doctor ordered a spinal tap.

"He told me I either had a brain tumor, which would be fatal, or MS, which isn't," he says.

Either way, "he told me I'd never walk again."

And then came the diagnosis. "He was talking. I was hearing," Lander recalls. "But it was all a surrealistic state. Back then, there were no treatments. He told me 'There is no cure. The only guarantee I can make is it will get worse.' It was pretty grim."

As it turns out, the doctor was wrong.....Fans of the 1970s hit TV show "Laverne and Shirley" knew him as Squiggy, the greasy-haired neighbor with the screechy voice.

What they may not know about actor David Lander is that for 15 years, he hid a secret.

He has multiple sclerosis.

He was 34, married and the father of an 11-month-old daughter when he was diagnosed 14 years ago.

Beset by unexplained symptoms, including numbness in his fingers and arm that came and went, he was "beginning to feel like a hypochondriac."

One day, he woke up unable to walk.

"I couldn't balance. I had no strength," he says.

His doctor ordered a spinal tap.

"He told me I either had a brain tumor, which would be fatal, or MS, which isn't," he says.

Either way, "he told me I'd never walk again."

And then came the diagnosis. "He was talking. I was hearing," Lander recalls. "But it was all a surrealistic state. Back then, there were no treatments. He told me 'There is no cure. The only guarantee I can make is it will get worse.' It was pretty grim."

As it turns out, the doctor was wrong.Fans of the 1970s hit TV show "Laverne and Shirley" knew him as Squiggy, the greasy-haired neighbor with the screechy voice.

What they may not know about actor David Lander is that for 15 years, he hid a secret.

He has multiple sclerosis.

He was 34, married and the father of an 11-month-old daughter when he was diagnosed 14 years ago.

Beset by unexplained symptoms, including numbness in his fingers and arm that came and went, he was "beginning to feel like a hypochondriac."

One day, he woke up unable to walk.

"I couldn't balance. I had no strength," he says.

His doctor ordered a spinal tap.

"He told me I either had a brain tumor, which would be fatal, or MS, which isn't," he says.

Either way, "he told me I'd never walk again."

And then came the diagnosis. "He was talking. I was hearing," Lander recalls. "But it was all a surrealistic state. Back then, there were no treatments. He told me 'There is no cure. The only guarantee I can make is it will get worse.' It was pretty grim."

As it turns out, the doctor was wrong.more

Cycling South America for MS A true modern adventure: 3 Guys, 3 Bikes, 7000 Miles, 1 Big Continent
On November 6th 2006 three twenty something graduates from Upminster in Essex will be setting out to cycle the length of the South American continent for charity. They will be cycling on behalf of the Multiple Sclerosis Society. Travelling through Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia the route will take the team over 7,000 miles over some of the most endurance testing terrain in the world.

The Andes, vertically bisecting the country, make the landscape anything but flat. The plan is to average around 50miles a day. The goal will be to undertake around 140 days of cycling to complete the expedition – with some time of for Christmas and good behaviour.

The guys will be undertaking this feat completely unsupported, carrying all they need to live and survive with them on their bikes – which have all been heavily upgraded for the trek. Clothing, camping gear, food, water and bike maintenance essentials will all add to the load. Fully laden each bike will weigh in the region of 50kg.

Along the way the guys will be maintaining a website featuring a blog, photo gallery, route information and much more. The URL to the guy’s website can be seen below.

The guys are riding for the Multiple Sclerosis Society.more

MultiCell Establishes Clinical Development Team to Lead UK Phase IIb Human Clinical Trials for MCT-125 for the Treatment of Fatigue in MS Patients
MCT-125 targets fatigue associated with MS, an autoimmune disease in which immune cells attack and destroy the myelin sheath protecting neurons in the brain and spinal cord. About two million people worldwide are afflicted with MS, and approximately 70 percent of them report fatigue as the worst symptom of their disease
MORE

High-dose cyclophosphamide for moderate to severe refractory multiple sclerosis
[Department of Medicine, State University of New York at Stony Brook, USA]
BACKGROUND: High-dose cyclophosphamide is active in immune-mediated illnesses. OBJECTIVE: To describe the effects of high-dose cyclophosphamide on severe refractory multiple sclerosis
CONCLUSIONS: High-dose cyclophosphamide treatment in patients with severe refractory multiple sclerosis can result in disease stabilization, improved functionality, and improved quality of life. Further studies are necessary to determine the most appropriate patients for this treatment.

LIVE: MS HealthTalk - 30 Minutes of Q&A with Nurse Piper [sponsored by a drug company]
When: October 24, 2006
8:30 p.m. Eastern (5:30 p.m. Pacific)
Where: On the Internet
Summary:
Join us to get expert answers to your MS questions about oral treatments, disease progression, surviving the holidays and just about anything else you might want to know more about. MS nurse Piper Paul will be standing by to answer the questions you submit online during our 30 minutes of live Q&A.

Effect of intrathecal baclofen on sleep and respiratory function in patients with spasticity
From the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department (D.B., N.R., S.B., M.B., P.D.), Physiological Department and Sleep Unit (M.B., F.L., M.A.Q.S.), and Technological Innovation Center (P.D., F.L.), AP-HP, Hôpital Raymond Poincaré, Université Versailles–Saint-Quentin, Garches, France.
Objective: To prospectively evaluate the effect of pump-infused intrathecal baclofen infusion (ITB) in therapeutic doses on sleep quality and on daytime and nighttime respiratory function in patients with severe spasticity

Conclusion: Compared with oral baclofen, intrathecal baclofen infusion did not affect respiratory function and improved sleep continuity. Intrathecal baclofen infusion in therapeutic doses may act at the spinal level rather than at the supraspinal level.more

BioMS Medical expands pivotal multiple sclerosis trial into the Baltic StatesBioMS Medical Corp (TSX: MS - News), a leading developer in the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS), today announced it has received approval in all of the Baltic States (Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia) from their respective agencies to begin enrolling patients into its ongoing pivotal phase II/III trial of MBP8298, a proprietary synthetic peptide for the treatment of secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS).

"The high and mighty take dim view of medicinal cannabis"...UK: The Star
The Hague - Dutch prosecutors have asked the country's highest court to quash an appeals court decision allowing a man suffering from MS to grow his own cannabis.

"We introduced an appeals motion yesterday before the Supreme Court," Marina Weel, spokesperson for the prosecutor's office in Leeuwaarden, said.

The government argues that the appeals court decision authorising Wim Moorlag (51) to grow enough dagga to alleviate the pain caused by his condition would set a dangerous precedent, leading to abuses of the country's otherwise tolerant drug laws.

It is legal in the Netherlands to sell and consume small amounts of dagga and hashish in licensed cafés, but growing and trafficking the drugs are banned....more

MP's Back Multiple Sclerosis Campaign (from This Is Local London)
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE MPs Paul Goodman and David Lidington visited the High Wycombe and district branch of the Multiple Sclerosis Society in Hughenden Valley to show their support for MS nurses.

They met Elspeth Wolfenden, the MS nursing specialist at Amersham Hospital, and talked to patients, carers and volunteer supporters from the MS Society. Both MPs gave their support to a national campaign to safeguard nursing positions in other parts of the country. Mr Lidington said: "I was delighted to meet Elspeth and to hear more about her invaluable work supporting local people with MS.".... more

Romance and MS
Navigating the rocky road of dating and relationships is challenging enough when you're perfectly healthy. Having a degenerative disorder like multiple sclerosis (MS) can throw up additional barriers at every turn, from deciding whether to disclose your status on a first date to grappling with issues of intimacy down the road.

Though the path to a satisfying relationship may require unexpected U-turns and alternate routes, make no mistake: People with MS can and do date, experience intimacy, and thrive in long-term relationships.

For a glimpse of what adults with MS can expect en route to building and maintaining relationships, we turned to the experts: adults living with MS, and the professionals who help them along the way.

How Soon Do You Tell?

We all have skeletons in our closet. But we don't always know when to let them out.

"I don't think secrets are a good thing. But when you go out with someone for the first time, you don't owe that person much of anything," says clinical psychologist Rosalind Kalb, PhD, ...more

Yoga may help ease MS symptoms
This bolster-supported forward bend can relieve stress and tension

There are three types of multiple sclerosis (MS) symptoms that yoga can directly address: Fatigue and heat intolerance, numbness in the limbs and loss of coordination, and loss of flexibility and balance.

These limitations can be countered with breathing exercises. You can learn alternate nostril breathing from a qualified yoga instructor, making the exhalation longer than the inhalation which will calm the nervous system.

Heat, stress and tension can cause temporary worsening of MS symptoms and restorative yoga, such as this bolster-supported forward bend, can relieve stress and tension in the body and help it better withstand fluctuations in body temperature.

HOW TO DO IT...Place a bolster or rolled up blanket under the back of your knees and extend your legs out.more

The Boston Home's 125th Anniversary - Campaign for Care Celebration Gala Concert to Benefit Care for Adults With MS
On Thursday, November 9th, hundreds of supporters of The Boston Home will assemble for a Benefit Gala Concert in the Ballroom at the Campus Center at UMass Boston to kick off the non-profit organization's 125th anniversary celebration and its Campaign for Care. The Boston Home is a sustaining community for adults with advanced Multiple Sclerosis and other progressive neurological diseases.more

Wyo. Opponent Says Incumbent Made Threat - FederalNewsRadio
Thomas Rankin, the Libertarian running for Wyoming's lone U.S. House seat, said Rep. Barbara Cubin, R-Wyo., threatened to slap him after a televised debate.

Rankin, who has multiple sclerosis and uses an electric wheelchair, said.....more

BILL GATES BEHIND POTENTIAL MS DRUGS IN PIPELINE:


"The $2.1 billion acquisition of Icos Corp. is interesting on many levels."

"The company's largest investor is Bill Gates, the billionaire founder and chairman of Microsoft Corp. Gates holds 10 percent of Icos' equity."

......Icos already has hired 23 Ph.D.s to search for new treatments for rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, asthma and other inflammatory diseases."

About 40 employees, including research teams, have already been hired. The company plans to start operations with 65, he said. Researchers have been recruited from across the country, he said, including the University of Washington and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

The company is focusing on finding a ''new generation of biopharmaceutical products for some of the most intractable human diseases,'' including rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and asthma, Nowinski said.

Competitors have mainly tried to treat the symptoms of the so-called inflammatory diseases, he said. ''There's a very large market there, but it doesn't really address the underlying problems.''

Icos plans to develop biological and pharmaceutical products that will arrest disease in the early stages, he said.
CLICK FOR FULL ARTICLE

Kayla Holzer doesn't want a hug if there's any pity about MS in the embrace..../click for more
Kayla Holzer shares a laugh with teammates during a practice Wednesday. Holzer maintains a positive attitude and enjoys her time on the field....[Holzer prepares to give herself her daily injection on Wednesday]....

NOBODY WANTS PAULA ABDUL IN MS AUCTION
Singer PAULA ABDUL’s foray into the world of eBay has ended without success after an auction to win a day with the AMERICAN IDOL judge received no bids.

Fox TV executives had hoped for a bidding war over the VIP package, which included two first-class tickets to Los Angeles, a £1,200 ($2,225) shopping spree, and a backstage meeting with the star.

The auction was intended to raise money for multiple sclerosis charities, but the £14,000 ($26,000) asking price proved such a deterrent that the listing was removed from the site after four days. An eBay spokesperson says,

"This sort of charity auction usually makes a mint.

It’s kind of sad that nobody wanted to bid on Paula."

A Fairport photography studio is donating session fees from all photographic appointments booked in October and November to MS
(good idea for others)

Testosterone gel may help men with MS
Jeffrey Steenberg loves the outdoors, but when doctors diagnosed him with multiple sclerosis four years ago, even the simple tasks became exhausting.

"Just finding myself extremely tired a lot. I couldn't make it through a day without napping," he said.

About half of all MS patients also have memory problems.

"I definitely noticed some of the memory going. Calling somebody immediately after calling them and not knowing who was on the phone anymore," he said.

Neurologist Rhonda Voskuhl says there's no approved treatment to prevent memory failure.

"What we don't have are drugs that would be going to the brain or spinal cord and protecting those nerves," she said.

A testosterone gel might help. In a small study, 10 men with MS applied it to their shoulders once a day for a year.

"What they reported most is that they felt better, that they had more energy and less fatigue," said Voskuhl.

The gel improved their immune systems and all the patients performed better on memory tests. MRI scans also showed parts of the brain that normally decline in MS actually slowed.

"We're excited about these findings because we're actually would be describing the first neural protective drugs for MS," said Voskuhl.

Steenberg noticed a difference.

"The increased energy and mental alertness were the biggest, the biggest changes for me," he said.

Researchers are expected to study whether estrogen provides the same memory benefits in female patients.

Patients on the move to find a cure for MS
Walk series in Texas this year has raised $1.1 million...Karin Sperger first showed signs of multiple sclerosis nearly 50 years ago, when as a 24-year-old she was temporarily paralyzed on the left side of her body.

But doctors misdiagnosed her with encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain, and Sperger went without proper treatment for more than two decades. "I was getting weaker and weaker and more clumsy," said Sperger, who was finally diagnosed with MS in her 50s.

Now 71, the League City resident is an avid fundraiser for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, which held its annual walk at several locations across the region this weekend. Sperger rodeFULL STORY

FDA Approves Betaseron for Use After the First Event Suggestive of Multiple Sclerosis |PRESS RELEASE With Video
Early treatment with Betaseron significantly delayed the time to a second clinical event

Wayne, NJ, October 23, 2006 /PRNewswire/ -- Berlex, Inc., a U.S. affiliate of Schering AG, Germany (FSE: SCH; NYSE: SHR), announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has expanded the indication of Betaseron® (interferon beta-1b) to include patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) who have experienced a first clinical episode and have MRI features consistent with MS. Betaseron is indicated for the treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis to reduce the frequency of clinical exacerbations. Betaseron is the only high-dose, high-frequency interferon beta indicated for patients at the earliest stage of MS.

The new indication is based on results from the BENEFIT (BEtaseron in Newly Emerging multiple sclerosis for Initial Treatment) Study of patients with a first clinical demyelinating event and MRI features suggestive of MS. The two-year study showed that treatment with Betaseron delayed the time to a second clinical event by one year compared to placebo.1 BENEFIT is the only trial to demonstrate the efficacy of a high dose, high frequency interferon beta, Betaseron, as an effective treatment for patients with early MS . In addition to establishing efficacy in this group of patients, the study also showed that patients with early MS found Betaseron to be a safe and well-tolerated treatment, as evidenced by the findings that 93 percent of patients completed the study.

"We are very happy to offer people at the earliest stages of MS the benefit of an early start with high-dose, high-frequency Betaseron and its proven, long-term safety and efficacy profile," said Ludger Heeck, Ph.D., Vice President and General Manager, Specialized Therapeutics, Berlex. "Experts convened by the American Academy of Neurology2 have suggested that higher doses of interferon beta, taken more frequently, appear to be more effective in fighting MS than lower doses taken less often. Betaseron is the only high-dose, high-frequency interferon beta approved in the U.S. for patients who have experienced a first clinical event suggestive of MS."

About the BENEFIT Study
Two-year data from the BENEFIT Study were recently published in Neurology3. In the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial, 468 FULLPRESS RELEASE With Video

Write-in candidate will work for free: Durango Herald
Denise Clement says she would work the job for free, no salary, no benefits, no party affiliation and no financial backers, so she would not feel she owed anyone....

Clement is a medically retired former U.S. Marine, married 25 years, mother of three grown children, now in a wheelchair when she leaves the house due to progressive MS, but says, "my mind works just fine, thank you."...CLICK FOR FULL STORY ON: Durango Herald

Sigalet aiming to save lives: Rhode Island news
On the ice, Providence goalie Jordan Sigalet is known as a fierce competitor. Off of the ice, Sigalet is known as a philanthropist.
Sigalet is campaigning with the P-Bruins and Serono, MS LifeLines, to raise money for a cure for multiple sclerosis. For every goal that Sigalet saves this season, Serono will donate $20 to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society's...Sigalet is hoping to raise a lot of money this season through the program called "Sigalet Saves for MS." In 37 games last season, Sigalet made 744 saves and was 19-11-2 with a 2.55 goals-against average and a 90 save percentage. He made his NHL debut on Jan. 7 in a 6-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning, playing 43 seconds. Before turning pro, he played four seasons at Bowling Green where he had a 34-46-16 record with a 2.98 GAA and a 91.5 save percentage.

In his junior season at Bowling Green, he was diagnosed with MS. Following his senior season, he was nominated by ESPN for the Best Comeback Athlete ESPY. Sigalet is the career leader in save percentage at Bowling Green and second all-time in GAA....MORE: Rhode Island news

Clustering of autoimmune diseases in families with a high-risk for multiple sclerosis: a descriptive study
[School of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA; Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA; Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, Oakland, CA, USA.]

BACKGROUND: Autoimmune mechanisms are thought to have a major role in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis. We aimed to identify coexisting autoimmune phenotypes in patients with multiple sclerosis from families with several members with the disease and in their first-degree relatives.

FINDINGS: 46 (26%) index cases reported at least one coexisting autoimmune disorder. The most common were Hashimoto thyroiditis (10%), psoriasis (6%), inflammatory bowel disease (3%), and rheumatoid arthritis (2%). 112 (64%) families with a history of multiple sclerosis reported autoimmune disorders (excluding multiple sclerosis) in one or more first-degree relatives, whereas 64 (36%) families reported no history of autoimmunity. Similar to index cases, Hashimoto thyroiditis, psoriasis, and inflammatory bowel disease were also the most common disorders occurring in family members. A common variant within CTLA4 was strongly associated with multiple sclerosis in families who had other autoimmune diseases (p=0.009) but not in families without a history of other autoimmune disorders (p=0.90

NTERPRETATION: The presence of various immune disorders in families with several members with multiple sclerosis suggests that the disease might arise on a background of a generalised susceptibility to autoimmunity. This distinct multiple-sclerosis phenotype, defined by its association with other autoimmune diseases, segregates with specific genotypes that could underlie the common susceptibility.

The female to male sex ratio by year of birth has been increasing for at least 50 years.....Sex ratio of multiple sclerosis in Canada: a longitudinal study: "BACKGROUND: Incidence of multiple sclerosis is thought to be increasing, but this notion has been difficult to substantiate. In a longitudinal population-based dataset of patients with multiple sclerosis obtained over more than three decades, we did not show a difference in time to diagnosis by sex. We reasoned that if a sex-specific change in incidence was occurring, the female to male sex ratio would serve as a surrogate of incidence change

FINDINGS: The female to male sex ratio by year of birth has been increasing for at least 50 years and now exceeds 3.2:1 in Canada. Year of birth was a significant predictor for sex ratio (p<0.0001, chi(2)=124.4; rank correlation r=0.84).

INTERPRETATION: The substantial increase in the female to male sex ratio in Canada seems to result from a disproportional increase in incidence of multiple sclerosis in women. This rapid change must have environmental origins even if it is associated with a gene-environment interaction, and implies that a large proportion of multiple sclerosis cases may be preventable in situ. Although the reasons why incidence of the disease is increasing are unknown, there are major implications for health-care provision because lifetime costs of multiple sclerosis exceed pound1 million per case in the UK."

"'Diagnose and adios.'" - The Boston Globe
:"Diagnose and adios."
That rueful phrase has long summed up the treatment options for victims of multiple sclerosis, a chronic autoimmune disease with no clear cause or cure. It also reflects a gnawing fear among many MS patients: that once their employers learn of their illness, which can cause fatigue, loss of balance, and slurred speech, their jobs will be in jeopardy.

Alan J. Labonte suspected his own diagnosis with MS was his undoing at the now-defunct Boston law firm Hutchins & Wheeler, which fired him as its executive director seven months after he disclosed his disability. But Labonte fought back, suing the firm for handicap discrimination and winning a historic jury verdict of $3.5 million. When the case was appealed, he turned down a $3 million settlement offer, instead waiting for a ruling by the state's highest court, which issued a landmark decision protecting the rights of the disabled.

"A Million Reasons" is Labonte's memoir of his five-year legal battle. Much of it reads like a diary, a self-affirmation that he did his job well by imposing fiscal discipline on a financially dysfunctional firm. Labonte's detailed explanations of how he selected the firm's life insurance and healthcare plans, managed its burdensome lease, and upgraded its phone system will be of limited interest to most readers.

But the book is a fascinating inside look at the complicated world of law firm economics, and its greatest appeal comes in Labonte's tales of the backstabbing, manipulating, and money-grubbing among lawyers. He names names, discloses top partners' annual compensation to the penny, and details the firm's disastrous finances.... FULL STORY - The Boston Globe

After nighttime treatment, clinical recovery was significantly enhanced and the mean number of side effects was significantly lower. -- Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry
Background: The activity of the immune system displays a circadian rhythm. In diseases characterized by aberrant immune activity, chronotherapy - treatment regimen tailored to diurnal body rhythms - may increase medication efficiency, safety, and tolerability.

The goal of this study was to compare the outcomes of intravenous corticosteroid administration during the day or night, for treatment of acute multiple sclerosis (MS) relapses.

Methods: Seventeen MS patients were included in the study. Clinical assessment of disability was performed at trial entry, and at days 7 and 30 from therapy initiation. Adverse events and preference of nighttime versus daytime therapy were assessed at the end of the treatment course.

Results: After nighttime treatment, clinical recovery was significantly enhanced and the mean number of side effects was significantly lower. Furthermore, the majority of patients expressed a preference for nighttime versus daytime treatment.....

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Methylthioadenosine Effective in Animal Models of MS
Methylthioadenosine (MTA), an adenine nucleoside produced from S-adenosylmethionine, is effective in animal models of acute and chronic multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a report in the September issue of the Annals of Neurology.

"A cell compound such as methylthioadenosine is able to modulate the immune response, and it might become a useful therapy for autoimmune diseases with less toxicity than other drugs because the cell has several mechanisms to compensate its excess," Dr. Pablo Villoslada told Reuters Health.

Dr. Villoslada and colleagues from the University of Navarra, Spain studied the effects of intraperitoneal MTA in rodent experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE, a model of MS) and in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from multiple sclerosis patients and healthy controls.full story - Ann Neurol 2006;60:323-334.

"MS patients set to trial cannabis pill": UK
Patients from across Norfolk are to take part in a national study to test whether cannabis extract can help to slow the progress of multiple sclerosis.

The trial will involve 20 patients from the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital who will take the extract in pill form and be closely monitored over a three-and-half-year period.

Two-thirds of the patients will receive the drug, while the remaining third will be given a placebo.”...FULL STORY

"Ok, if you read my profile, you know MS is a cause that is very close to my heart for personal reasons ... "






www.myspace.com/garthbrooks

CDP323: NEW DRUG IN PIPELINE...UCB and Biogen Idec to Collaborate on MS Therapy: UBC Press Release

UCB, Brussels, Belgium, and Biogen Idec, Cambridge, Mass., announced a global collaboration to jointly develop and commercialize CDP323, an orally active small molecule alpha4-integrin inhibitor expected to enter phase II clinical trials next year, to treat relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.

UCB (Euronext Brussels: UCB) and Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB) today announced a global collaboration to jointly develop and commercialize CDP323 for the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) and other potential indications. CDP323 is an orally active small molecule alpha4-integrin inhibitor expected to enter Phase II clinical trials next year.

Under terms of the agreement, UCB will receive upfront and additional payments for development and commercial milestones in excess of 200 million US dollars. Furthermore Biogen Idec will contribute significantly to clinical costs for Phase II and Phase III studies. All commercialization costs and profits will be shared equally.

"Multiple Sclerosis affects more than a million people worldwide and we are delighted to be collaborating with Biogen Idec on our exciting CDP323 program. CDP323 has arisen from UCB's in-depth understanding of integrin biology and chemistry to address this difficult protein target. Our outstanding Phase I results encourage us to move rapidly into Phase II trials in MS patients. We believe that if trials are successful CDP323 could make a real difference for MS patients with this severe and debilitating disease," stated Melanie Lee, Executive Vice President, Research & Development for UCB.

“We are always looking to enhance and expand our arsenal in the fight against MS,” said Al Sandrock, Senior Vice President, Neurology Research and Development for Biogen Idec. “Another effective oral therapy would augment Biogen Idec's broad portfolio of products and potential therapies in development for this debilitating disease. We are pleased that UCB has decided to partner with us on such a promising program.”

About CDP323
CDP323 is a potent and orally active small molecule prodrug antagonist of alpha4-integrins. The safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetic profile of CDP323 have been evaluated in healthy volunteers in three separate Phase I studies. CDP323 was well tolerated with an adverse event profile comparable to placebo. Data from these studies have been reported at the 2006 European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS). FULL RESS RELEASE

Effect of dose and frequency of interferon beta-1a administration on clinical and magnetic resonance imaging parameters in relapsing-remitting MS
There is still debate over the optimal dosage, frequency and route of administration of interferon (IFN) beta in MS. A prospective, non-randomized, comparative study was performed to evaluate differences in magnetic resonance imaging and clinical outcomes of two IFN beta-1a preparations (30mcg intramuscular [im] once-weekly [qw], AVO; and 22 mcg subcutaneous [sc] three-times-weekly [tiw].....

....These results from patients receiving AVO or R22 in normal clinical practice are in line with randomized clinical studies that show the benefits of high-dose, high-frequency administration of IFN beta-1a in MS therapy.

Acute leukaemia in two multiple sclerosis patients treated with mitoxantrone : "INTRODUCTION: Mitoxantrone (Mx) is used as a second-line treatment in multiple sclerosis. Since 1998, eight cases of acute leukemia (AL) have been described. We report two new cases of myeloid AL that occurred during treatment with Mx. OBSERVATIONS: The first case concerned a women who was treated with Mx for 3 months. In spite of a very low total dose (58.32 mg), she developed promyelocytic AL. The second patient died of myeloid AL, 27 months after the last injection of Mx. DISCUSSION: All the reported cases of AL occurring after Mx respond to the criteria of leukemia induced by anti-topoisomerases II. Epidemiological data and those from animal experiments suggest that Mx has direct role in the occurrence of leukemia. CONCLUSION: It must be remembered that even if the risk of Mx-induced leukemia is low, blood cell counts must

Emerging Infections and Pregnancy | CDC EID
[ABSTRACT - Denise J. Jamieson,* Comments to Author Regan N. Theiler,† and Sonja A. Rasmussen*
*Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; and †Emory University at Grady Health Systems, Atlanta, Georgia, USA]
A key component of the response to emerging infections is consideration of special populations, including pregnant women. Successful pregnancy depends on adaptation of the woman's immune system to tolerate a genetically foreign fetus. Although the immune system changes are not well understood, a shift from cell-mediated immunity toward humoral immunity is believed to occur. These immunologic changes may alter susceptibility to and severity of infectious diseases in pregnant women. For example, pregnancy may increase susceptibility to toxoplasmosis and listeriosis and may increase severity of illness and increase mortality rates from influenza and varicella. Compared with information about more conventional disease threats, information about emerging infectious diseases is quite limited. Pregnant women's altered response to infectious diseases should be considered when planning a response to emerging infectious disease threats.....more

Wal-Mart 'theft' leads to false arrest suit Woman seeking $15,000 from store: ["The Waterbury Headlines"
WATERBURY -- A 27-year-old woman with multiple sclerosis is suing Wal-Mart, alleging she was framed for shoplifting.

The lawsuit, filed Oct. 10 in Waterbury Superior Court, claims that not only did Wal-Mart falsely accuse Shpresa Redzepi, it also intentionally concealed evidence that would have proved her innocence.

The suit seeks more than $15,000 in damages, claiming Redzepi was the victim of malicious prosecution, false imprisonment, assault and battery. The suit also alleges defamation, negligence and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

Redzepi's lawyer, Donald C. McPartland of Waterbury wrote that along with the humiliation of her arrest, Redzepi suffered from depression and anxiety. She sought treatment from a psychiatrist and may need further treatment, he wrote.

"We take the matter very seriously, but because the matter is in litigation it wouldn't be appropriate for us to comment until it is resolved," said John Simley, a Wal-Mart spokesman.

The case began Oct. 7, 2004, when Redzepi went to the Wal-Mart on Wolcott Street to return a defective PUR water filter purchased two days earlier.

Redzepi's illness made it difficult to explain to the clerk at the return counter where the receipt was. The receipt was in the box containing the water filter, according to the lawsuit....MORE