Multiple sclerosis is a chronic neurological disease affecting the central nervous system. The MS Society works closely with people affected by this condition, helping them to manage their symptoms and enjoy the best life possible. We meet some of their clients and get an insight into what life is like with MS.
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Open Door: MS - Part 1 - Video
Summertime is the hottest time of the year, which is the reason that we love the water so much. A lot of people myself included take full advantage of the pool, and beaches in the summertime to cool off with a good swim. However there are other ways to use a pool other than to swim, which I have been doing since being diagnosed in 2006 with multiple sclerosis.
My neurologist told me about an exercise that I can do in the water, which I had no clue about before. This is kind of funny considering that I grew up in California. My neurologist explained to me that I should be doing water aerobics to keep my muscles strong, and I started to use water aerobics to see if it would work. I have to say that it worked very well indeed.
This is why I proudly give to you the top five benefits of water aerobics for people with multiple sclerosis.
Benefit number one
Multiple sclerosis is a debilitating disease that tears your muscles down, but water aerobics builds your muscles back up. By building my muscles up through water aerobics I'm able to still play the other sports that I love such as tennis, basketball, and cycling to name just a few.
Benefit number two
During my hospital stay in 2006 I put on a little bit of weight and I was afraid that I would not be able to lose this weight. Through the use of water aerobics I was able to lose the weight I put on and more. This is one of the biggest reasons I love to do water aerobics. Water aerobics allow me to know that no matter what I can always get in the water and lose any weight I might put on.
Benefit number three
Water aerobics has allowed me to build up my endurance, which in turn allows me to play longer games of tennis with my friends. Water aerobics, has also lead to me being able to enjoy the other sports that I love such as boxing, walking, and cycling because of my improved endurance.
Benefit number four
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Water Aerobics Benefits for People with Multiple Sclerosis
Participants warm up for the walk held in conjunction with World Multiple Sclerosis Day. Pix by Iqmal Haqim Rosman
Padma Panikker says many know little about the rare disease, a situation that the Multiple Sclerosis Society Malaysia hopes to change. Pix by Iqmal Haqim Rosman
IN conjunction with World Multiple Sclerosis Day on May 30, a charity walk was held at Titiwangsa Lake.
Organised by Multiple Sclerosis Society Malaysia and supported by Novartis Corporation (M) Sdn Bhd, the event had the support of 300, who walked around the lake wearing the society's official T-shirt.
The walk was flagged off by model Amber Chia, who was there to show support to the cause and learn more about the disease.
"I heard that the percentage of Malaysians with the disease is low, and some do not even know they have it.
"I am here to learn more about the disease. I hope that more people will be aware of multiple sclerosis after this," she said.
Chia said she did not know much about the disease before she was invited to the event, and was surprised by some of the things she had learnt.
"For example, I thought that only old people get it but some of the patients here have got the disease since they were 13," said Chia.
Multiple Sclerosis Society Malaysia president Padma Panikker said those who were diagnosed with the disease were usually frightened at first and the society acted as a support group for them.
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Multiple sclerosis walk-through
Editor's Choice Main Category: Multiple Sclerosis Article Date: 24 May 2012 - 14:00 PDT
Current ratings for: 'Recovery From Multiple Sclerosis By Growth Factor In Stem Cells'
5 (2 votes)
4.5 (2 votes)
Animals that were injected with hepatocyte growth factor were noted to have grown new neural cells and lower levels of inflammation. Most significantly, the researchers noted that the protective envelope of myelin, the myelin sheath, which surrounds the core of a nerve fiber and facilitates the transmission of nerve impulses, re-grew and covered lesions that were caused by MS.
Robert H. Miller, professor of neurosciences at the School of Medicine and vice president for research at Case Western Reserve University declared: "The importance of this work is we think we've identified the driver of the recovery."
MS is caused by damage to the myelin sheath, the protective covering that surrounds nerve cells. The nerve damage is caused by inflammation, which occurs when the body's own immune cells attacks the nervous systems located in areas of the brain, the optic nerve, and spinal cord. This damage can cause an interruption of the nerve signals, which results in loss of balance and coordination, cognitive ability, as well as in other functions and in time, these intermittent losses may become permanent. In 2009, Caplan and Miller discovered that mice with MS injected with human mesenchymal stem cells recovered from the type of damage that was brought on by MS. A clinical trial is currently underway based on their research, whereby patients with MS are injected with their own stems cells.
During this trial, the team decided to first establish whether the presence of stem cells or other cells induce recovery. They injected a total of 11 animals with MS with the medium, in which mesenchymal stem cells that were taken from bone marrow grew, discovering that all animals displayed a rapid reduction in functional deficits. An analysis demonstrated that unless the injected molecules had a certain size or weight, i.e. between 50 and 100 kiloDaltons, the course of the disease remained unchanged.
Other research, as well as the team's own studies, suggested that this was likely to be instigated by the hepatocyte growth factor, which is secreted by mesenchymal stem cells.
The team then injected the animals with either 50 or 100 nanograms of the growth factor on alternate days for a 5-day period and observed a decrease in the level of signaling molecules that promote inflammation, whilst the level of signaling molecules that oppose inflammation increased. The researchers noted a growth of neural cells, whilst nerves that were exposed because of MS were rewrapped with myelin. Recovery was marginally better in those mice that received the 100-nanogram injections compared with those receiving the 50-nanogram injections.
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Recovery From Multiple Sclerosis By Growth Factor In Stem Cells
WEDNESDAY, March 7 (HealthDay News) -- New research suggests that pregnancy may decrease women's risk of developing multiple sclerosis.
"Even one pregnancy was associated with nearly a halving of risk [of developing MS symptoms]," said study author Anne-Louise Ponsonby, head of the environmental and genetic epidemiology and research group at Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia. The team also found that women who were pregnant two or more times had only one-quarter of the risk of developing MS symptoms as those who were never pregnant.
The study was published online March 7 in the journal Neurology.
Previous research has found that pregnancy in women who already have MS -- an autoimmune disorder -- is linked with lower rates of relapse.
Ponsonby's team found an association between pregnancy and a lower risk of MS symptoms, not a direct cause-and-effect link. They say, however, that this association may help explain why the incidence of MS in women has inched up over the past few decades, as more women delay pregnancy or have fewer babies or none at all.
The researchers evaluated information on 282 Australian men and women, aged 18 to 59, who had MS symptoms -- which can include fatigue, numbness, balance or walking problems -- but had not been diagnosed with the disease. The researchers looked at both the number of live births and pregnancies lasting at least 20 weeks in the women. They also recorded the number of children born to men. They compared those statistics to 542 men and women without MS symptoms.
No link was found between the number of children men had and their risk of MS symptoms. There was an association with women, however: the risk of developing MS symptoms decreased as the number of pregnancies increased.
The researchers couldn't say exactly why pregnancy may lower MS risk, but they speculated it could be the increase in estrogen during pregnancy or the effect pregnancy has on inflammatory genes involved in MS.
The study was funded by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and other organizations.
Women are more likely than men to develop MS. Having a close relative with MS also increases your risk. About 400,000 people in the United States have MS, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
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Pregnancy May Protect Against MS, Study Says
Study: Multiple Sclerosis Risk May Drop by 50% After First Pregnancy
By Brenda Goodman, MA WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD
March 7, 2012 -- Pregnancy appears to play a strong role in whether or not a woman may develop the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a new study.
The study involved more than 800 women between the ages of 18 and 60. Nearly 300 of them had experienced a first episode of MS symptoms. The other women were healthy and were included for comparison.
Women in the study with at least one child had about half the risk of early MS symptoms compared to women without children. And that risk appeared to drop with each additional child. Women with three children had a 75% lower risk of early MS symptoms compared to women without children. In women with five or more children, risk of early symptoms was slashed by 94%.
Those benefits remained even after researchers accounted for other factors associated with the likelihood of developing MS, like level of education, smoking, skin damage and sun exposure, and certain susceptibility genes.
Researchers say they're pretty sure that it is something about pregnancy -- rather than being a parent or raising children -- that's protective, because they saw no difference in men.
The study is published in the journal Neurology.
Although it is already known that a woman with MS may see a decrease in her symptoms while pregnant, other large studies have not seen an association between pregnancies and MS. But researchers think that may have something to do with when women were included in the studies.
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Past Pregnancies May Protect Against MS
RAMS preliminaries successful
The competition ends a month of events fundraising for multiple sclerosis.
Published Feb. 24, 2012
Members of Alpha Phi perform Wednesday for the preliminaries of the Rockin' Against Multiple Sclerosis lip-syncing competition at The Blue Note. The finals for the competition will be held at 7 p.m. Friday at The Blue Note.
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Elaborate costumes, carefully choreographed dancing and dramatic lip-syncing annually bring MU students together for a charitable cause: the Rockin' Against Multiple Sclerosis Rock-It lip-sync competition.
During the past 18 years, RAMS has evolved into the largest on-campus philanthropy at MU. The organization raises money for supplies for multiple sclerosis patients in the mid-Missouri area and works closely with patients in the Columbia community.
"That's one of my favorite parts about it," RAMS co-director Alex Prestel said. "It's why I keep coming back every year and why they can't get rid of me. Because I love Mizzou, but I love Columbia just as much, and this really ties the campus and the community together, which I think is one of the many unique aspects of RAMS."
Members assist multiple sclerosis patients with small jobs year-round, RAMS co-director Sarah Bowman said.
"(Wednesday), we had a few steer-co members help a woman who has MS," Bowman said. "We cleaned her car, waxed it, hung a mirror in her house and she could not stop thanking us. We made her day."
Each February, RAMS hosts a series of events at MU and around Columbia in which campus organizations participate, earning points for each activity, according to the RAMS website. Money raised from each event is donated to the Multiple Sclerosis Institute and directly benefits patients in mid-Missouri. Events include Comedy Night, Jail-N-Bail and Cup Night.
Rock-It, the month's final event, showcases the performing and lip-syncing talents of participating organizations as well as the talents of smaller in-between-acts. Originally held at Midway, the competition has been held at The Blue Note for at least five years.
"The Blue Note is a great atmosphere," Bowman said. "I love coming and seeing it packed. It's so cool to see the excitement when The Blue Note comes to life."
This year, nine Interfraternity Council chapters and 12 Panhellenic Association chapters competed in Tuesday and Wednesday night's preliminary round. Acts in between consisted of individuals and small groups, with the Mizzou Competitive Dance Team dancing to a Top 40 mash-up Tuesday and a cappella group Mizzou Forte singing Wednesday.
Although the competing acts have historically been mostly Greek Life chapters, all organizations are welcome and encouraged to compete, Bowman said.
"We like to try to involve as much of campus as possible, not stopping with the Greek community," she said.
The show might be a competition, but many don't place much importance on the competitive aspect, Prestel said.
"It's not about the competition," Prestel said. "It's about having a great time with each other, enjoying entertaining acts and coming together to fight for such a great cause."
Chapters incorporated their personalities and senses of humor into each act to entertain full houses Tuesday and Wednesday night. Each performance had a theme.
Many acts included Top 40 hits in their set lists. Chi Omega channeled Lady Gaga and Britney Spears in "Getting Down with Divas," Delta Gamma danced to songs such as Ludacris' "My Chick Bad" during "Criminals" and Zeta Tau Alpha's "Zeta Swag" featured rap songs, ending with a dancer dressed as Lil Wayne throwing paper money at the audience.
Others channeled past music eras. Alpha Gamma Rho's "Boy Band Dance-off" featured songs by '90s stars *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys, Pi Kappa Alpha's "One Hit Blunders" featured '80s and '90s songs from forgotten artists and Alpha Delta Pi's "Ladies Night Out with ADPi" featured selections by Kool & The Gang and The Weather Girls.
Still others centered around humor. Alpha Gamma Sigma's "The Seductive Sigmas" had the Grim Reaper in the background during the late Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You," Delta Tau Delta's "The 2012 Grammys" imitated the music video of Dave Chappelle's "Piss on You" and "The Lonely Phi Kaps Part II" featured the parody "Frat Boy Swag" and reenacted parts of the YouTube video "We Are Mizzou."
Pi Kappa Alpha, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Delta Tau Delta, FarmHouse, Tau Kappa Epsilon, Chi Omega, Pi Beta Phi, Alpha Phi, Delta Delta Delta and Kappa Alpha Theta will compete in the final round 7 p.m. Friday at The Blue Note, according to the organization's Twitter account.
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RAMS preliminaries successful
Women who have been pregnant two or more times had a reduced risk of developing the disease, study finds. (Paul Sakuma / Associated Press)
March 7, 2012, 1:17 p.m.
Pregnancy is known to cause a remission in symptoms of multiple sclerosis in women who have MS prior to becoming pregnant. Now a study has found that multiple pregnancies may help prevent MS from ever developing.
The study, published online Wednesday in the journal Neurology, reviewed information on 282 men and women who received a diagnosis of central nervous demyelination. That's a condition that reflects early symptoms of MS but falls short of an actual MS diagnosis. The researchers compared those people to 542 healthy men and women.
They found that women who have been pregnant two or more times had a reduced risk of developing the disease. Women who had five or more pregnancies had one-twentieth the risk of developing MS compared with women who were never pregnant. There was no effect on men regarding their number of offspring and onset of the disease.
Rates of MS have increased over the last several decades. This increase could reflect the fact that women are having fewer children, said the lead author of the study, Anne-Louise Ponsonby of Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia. It's not clear what it is about pregnancy that protects against MS or causes its temporary remission. It's likely that hormones play a role, and studies are underway looking at estrogen as a treatment for the illness. It's also possible that immune changes that take place during pregnancy alter symptoms of the disease as well as the risk of developing it.
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Pregnancy seems to protect against multiple sclerosis
Contributed
The City of Sanger is coordinating with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society to recognize March 12 18 as MS Awareness Week.
The local MS chapter and volunteers will decorate downtown Sanger with orange colored ribbons on March 11 and will take them down on March 19.
If you would like to get involved contact Ana Hernandez at 439-2154 or seintern@nmss.org.
Symptoms may be mild (numbness in the limbs) or severe (paralysis, loss of vision). The progress, severity, and specific symptoms of MS are unpredictable and vary from one person to another. Today, new treatments and advances in research are giving hope to people affected by the disease. For more information about MS visit http://www.nationalMSsociety.org/cal.
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of thesangerherald.com .
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Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week activities in Sanger
17-01-2012 17:53 Overdue thank you and some reflections over the last 18 months without MS symptoms, which have reared their ugly heads 🙂 just in time to save my life once again.
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How multiple sclerosis killed me and LOVE brought me back to life.. - Video
02-01-2012 02:03 msrelief.com Linda Grace Cox ~I am walking about the same as I was last month. I'm doing just like Montel suggests, eat well, sleep enough, exercise, take meds and supplements regularly and I'm feeling great! I'm working hard and looking forward to being able to walk again!
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Repair MS ~ Jan. 2012 Update ~ Montel Williams - Video
30-08-2011 11:25 http://www.spreadmshope.com ... http://www.facebook.com As a last-ditch effort to slow the rapid progression of his multiple sclerosis, Dave Bexfield enrolled in an NIH-sponsored clinical trial of an aggressive treatment: a bone marrow stem cell transplant. The risky but potentially groundbreaking treatment performed in March 2010 required over a month of testing, three weeks in the hospital, and intensive rehabilitation. Presbyterian Healthcare denied every portion of the treatment, even when presented with compelling evidence of its likely benefits—opting instead to provide Dave with a wheelchair. To date, a year and a half post transplant, Dave's improvements have been nothing short of breathtaking. Donate. Speak out. Spread hope. Spread hope like fire.
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Multiple Sclerosis, Stem Cells, and Hope, Part 2 - Video
06-02-2012 14:26 The Treatment and Management of MS Exacerbations - a recorded version of a live webinar held on 2/2/2012 from the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America (MSAA). Speaker: Ben Thrower, MD Medical Director, MS Institute at the Shepherd Center - Atlanta, GA
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The Treatment and Management of MS Exacerbations - Video
19-01-2012 19:53 A project i did for my Biology class LoL it's about Multiple Sclerosis and the song used is Strobe (club edit) by Deadmau5 i dont own the song.
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MS Biology Project - Video
01-12-2011 17:56 After 20+ years with Multiple Sclerosis, I've seen multiple manifestations of the disease in my own body but this one takes the cake. Ear, top and bottom lip swelling when in aggravating, stressful or intense emotional situations arise. Seriously, this one tops them all!
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So Signs Of Multiple Sclerosis Under Stress 12012011 - Video
17-10-2011 14:37 In this video, Dr. Ben Thrower discusses what MS is. Dr. Thrower is a neurologist and serves as the Medical Director of the Andrew C. Carlos Multiple Sclerosis Institute at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta.
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MS: The Basics - What is Multiple Sclerosis? - Video
Case Study 1 - We first hear from Susie Cornell, a nutritionist and physical therapist who both suffers from Multiple Sclerosis herself and has pioneered a combination of nutrition and specialist exercises to manage the condition. Case Study 2 - Marianne has had mild MS for about thirteen years and has tried several different complementary therapies.
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The Alternative - MultipleSclerosis (MS) - Video
Patients improve their walk with Virtual Reality goggles
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Multiple Sclerosis Goggles - Video
29-10-2010 11:52 Dean M. Wingerchuk, MD, professor of Neurology, at Mayo Clinic in Arizona, provides an overview of multiple sclerosis treatment and new therapies.
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Multiple Sclerosis Treatment - Mayo Clinic - Video
Maligned molecule found to have beneficial anti-inflammatory effect
By Daily Mail Reporter
PUBLISHED: 05:43 EST, 3 August 2012 | UPDATED: 06:11 EST, 3 August 2012
A molecule that causes Alzheimers disease could reverse paralysis caused by multiple sclerosis (MS), a study has found.
The much-maligned molecule, known as A-beta, has until now been known as the chief culprit behind Alzheimers.
But it is also found in multiple-sclerosis lesions, which occur when immune cells invade the brain and spinal cord and attack the insulating coatings of nerve cells.
The nerve signals then get mixed up leading to blindness, loss of muscle control and difficulties with speech, thought and attention.
A woman with multiple sclerosis: The progressive condition attacks the nerve cells and over time can leave sufferers wheel-chair bound
Scientists from Stanford University in the United States wanted to investigate the role the molecule played in MS.
They used a mouse model that mimics several features of the disease - including the autoimmune attack on myelinated sections of the brain. They then injected A-beta into the rodents belly.
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MS hope: Alzheimer's disease molecule can actually REVERSE multiple sclerosis, say scientists after shock discovery