Life’s a trial – what actually does a clinical trial involve?

 Multiple Sclerosis
Feb 282012
 

When I’m doing research roundups, I quite often talk about clinical trials being “Phase 2″ or “Phase 3″. But what do these terms mean? The development of a new drug or other intervention is a long-term process. commonly taking 12 or more years before being available to patients. The regulatory process adds another hefty chunk of time.What’s happening for it all to take so long?

Research begins in the laboratory, where potential treatments are tested on animals: for instance, there is a strain of mice which have a condition very like MS. Testing drugs on them gives a reasonable idea of whether they’re likely to help people with MS. Around 1000 potential drugs are tested for each one that makes it to clinical trials.

The use of animals in drug trials is a whole other question, one I might discuss in a future blog post. Click here for more

MS research roundup February 2012

 Multiple Sclerosis
Feb 272012
 

With apologies for the long gap since the last one – here, finally, is my latest research roundup. And there’s some real goodies this time!

MS is conventionally seen as an auto-immune condition. For some reason, not yet fully understood, the body’s immune system begins to attack the myelin sheath surrounding the nerves. This has recently been challenged by the CCSVI theory, which states that MS is caused by blockages in the veins of the neck leading to back-up of blood and consequent deposition of iron in the brain.

Now an American researcher has developed a new theory. She believes that MS is a metabolic disease, caused by the body having problems dealing with fats in the diet. The rise in the number of cases over the last few decades is due to us, as a population, moving to a diet high in carbohydrates and saturated fats. Click here for more

Should medical marijuana be legal?

 Medical Regulations and Politics, Multiple Sclerosis
Feb 092012
 

A few months ago we invited one of our readers to write a guest blog about the usage of marijuana or cannabis for medical purposes here.

Since then medical marijuana has been regularly discussed on our multiple sclerosis group and our rheumatoid arthritis group.

In the UK in recent months the debate has once again changed. The Sentencing Council has issued guidelines that usage of cannabis by those diagnosed with a medical condition to help that condition should not incur a prison sentence. Click here for more

World-leading Multiple Sclerosis research to be showcased at MS Life in Manchester England

 Events, Multiple Sclerosis
Feb 082012
 

We have been asked by the UK’s  MS Society to publish this guest multiple sclerosis blog introducing MS Life.  Please use the comments to asks any questions you may have of the MS Society and we will ask them to respond.

The MS Society has announced that Manchester is to host its flagship national event, MS Life – Europe’s largest event of its kind – for the third time when it returns to the city from 14th-15th April.

The free two-day lifestyle event will take place at Manchester Central and is aimed at everyone affected by multiple sclerosis (MS), whether personally or professionally.Click here for more

The plight of people coping with Multiple Sclerosis symptoms is being ignored. Find out about the CCSVI campaign on ’38 degrees’

 Charity and Individual Initiatives, Multiple Sclerosis
Feb 072012
 

MS is a devastating set of symptoms that destroy the lives of sufferers and their family. The number of people affected by these symptoms is not known, there is an estimated figure of about 85,000 in the UK but early results of a survey undertaken under the freedom of information act suggest this might be half of the true number of 160,000. We are actively contacting MPs, MSPs and Health Ministers for help in getting at the accurate figures that would tell us the extent of the problem the country is facing.

Problems resulting from inaccurate figures:

  • This is a problem for services providers and resources.

Click here for more

Vitamin D and Multiple Sclerosis – your questions answered

 Food, Nutrition and Eating habits, Multiple Sclerosis
Feb 062012
 

Shift.ms has very graciously allowed The Patient Experience to republish their resent video on Vitamin D.  Ram, a postdoctoral research fellow at Barts and London in the UK, talks about the general value of Vitamin D and more specifically for multiple sclerosis.

Watch the video here.

It would be great if you could use the comments section to give your views on Vitamin D or links to any useful information! Click here for more

Poetry about Multiple Sclerosis

 Multiple Sclerosis
Jan 232012
 

It is a little known but interesting fact that many people with chronic conditions such as multiple sclerosis using poetry to explore and express their feelings about the disease.

Mel Penman has very graciously given us permission to publish one of her multiple sclerosis poems on the blog.  It would be great if you could use the comments section to let us know how well you feel Mel has managed to capture life with MS. Please feel free to add your own poems in the comments or even links to any MS related art works.Click here for more

Does anyone else in your family have multiple sclerosis?

 Family and Carers, Multiple Sclerosis
Jan 162012
 

During the weekend of 14th and 15th January 2012 an interesting discussion was started on our FaceBook Multiple Sclerosis page.

The discussion attracted massive interest and we thought it would be interesting to extend this conversation to the wider MS community.

The conversation was kick started by Mindy who asked “Has anyone done genetic testing for their MS? Was it worth it?”.  This itself lead to an interesting conversation so we then posted a follow up question “How many people have a relative with MS?”. Click here for more

CCSVI research and success stories – Multiple Sclerosis and Lyme Disease?

 Lyme Disease, Multiple Sclerosis
Jan 112012
 

When we asked our readers in early 2012 what subjects they wished us to cover in 2012 one of the top areas mentioned was the relationship between CCSVI, angioplasty and multiple sclerosis.

For some background on this highly controversial area please see our initial article – “Multiple sclerosis, CCSVI and Balloon angioplasty”.

Since this article was publish last year a lot of research has been conducted regarding multiple sclerosis and CCSVI.  Please watch the video below of Professor Robert Zivadinov of the University of Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences telling us about the links between MS and CCSVI. Click here for more

The UK’s Welfare Reform Bill has to be responsible says Margo Milne

 Medical Regulations and Politics, Multiple Sclerosis
Jan 092012
 

I don’t often blog about politics, but some things are too important for me to ignore.

The Welfare Reform Bill is currently making it’s way through the UK Parliament. There are very many things wrong with this Bill, but I’ll concentrate here on some of those affecting people with disabilities.

If you’re unable to work due to sickness or disability, you get Employment or Support Allowance. (People on the previous benefit, Incapacity Benefit, are gradually being migrated over.) There are two types of ESA – one depending on your National Insurance contributions, and one depending on your income.Click here for more

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