"Ill mom, son search frantically for home"

TYSABRI: "Elan to suspend trading during FDA product review"..[READ MORE] | Reuters.com

DOCTORS POLL: "than half thought it was too soon to return the companies' MS drug Tysabri to the market, and they would limit their use of the drug..[READ MORE...BUSINESS WEEK]:

National Institute of HealthCOPAXONE-BAD NEWS,,,STUDY...Effects of oral glatiramer acetate on clinical and MRI-monitored disease activity in patients with relapsing MS
"INTERPRETATION: 5 mg and 50 mg glatiramer acetate administered orally on a daily basis do not affect relapse rate or other clinical and MRI parameters of disease activity and burden in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Treatment with oral formulations of glatiramer acetate at the doses tested cannot be recommended"

Berlex Files Application For Use Of Betaseron In Patients With A First Clinical Episode Suggestive Of MS

Judge orders Biogen to turn over MRIs in Tysabri case!!... "plaintiff alleging Anita Smith didn't actually have MS when she was enrolled into a trial of Tysabri" [READ MORE]"

Remyelination by prevention of inflammatory cell infiltration

RAzathioprine myelosuppression in MS

Cognitive dysfunction in patients with relapsing-remitting MS

Risk of multiple sclerosis after head injury: record linkage studyCONCLUSIONS: The method used, record linkage, ensures that patients' recollection of injury, or any tendency to attribute MS to injury, cannot have influenced the results. Injuries to the head were not associated with either the aetiological initiation or the clinical precipitation of onset of multiple sclerosis.

Treatment of Relapsing-Remitting MS-96 Patients with IFN-beta1b: Results of a 6-Year Follow-Up

Obstetric regional blocks for women with MS: a survey

Source: "NOAH: New York Online Access to Health"Working/Employment Issues: 21 internet links

GenoMed Trial Results: From Two Relapses a Year to None in 16 Months

CNN: Tysabri is on center stage as FDA debates balance between speed and safetyBiogen Idec, Elan trying to get MS drug back on the market - Feb. 23, 2006Biogen Idec, FDA takes a closer look at withdrawn MS drug: Elan trying to get MS drug back on the market

TIPS: Combating Fatigue

NBC VIDEO: Murray acts to improve benefits for vets with MS

As makers seek MS drug's return, new question rises

Fight against MS is her toughest role

"You'll receive all medication and study based procedures at no charge...if you qualify for one of the many trials being conducted at Barrow Neurological Institute"...Stan Swartz CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION ON JOINING A TRIAL AT BARROW NEUROLOGICAL INSTITUTE

[14 page Research Bulletin] Bee sting therapy-Dietary supplements-Pregnancy-Cannabis-Stem cells-Memory

[Press Release] BIOMS MEDICAL SECURES LONG-TERM MANUFACTURING AGREEMENTS FOR MS DRUG MBP8298

[Personal Story] MS doesn't slow Madison woman

Schering to Buy Betaseron Rights, Repurchase Shares

Death Tied to Experimental MS Drug Stirs Debate - Los Angeles Times

Schering targets approval of Betaferon in early stage MS in Q3 this year UPDATE - Forbes.com

[STUDY] Experiences of Children and Adolescents Living with MS: "About 5% of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) are diagnosed before age 18. Because pediatric MS is uncommon, little is known about the experiences of children and adolescents living with MS........"

SUMMARY: The children and adolescents living with MS who participated in this study had many common experiences. Initially, they were unfamiliar with MS and had a multitude of feelings about the diagnosis. They gradually learned about MS from a variety of sources including just living with the disease. Over time, they adapted to the temporary or permanent effects and incorporated changes caused by MS into their lives. Most described participation in social and recreational activities typical of their age group. Although they recognized their lives were different because they had MS, they felt unchanged in many ways. Most noted some positive and negative changes in their relationships after diagnosis. They described stressors unique to having MS that made life more challenging, but they used diverse coping strategies to help them address these stressors. All had supportive people in their lives who facilitated coping. They expressed the need to move forward with life and identified hopes and plans for the future. MS clearly contributed to shaping their self-identities, but their disease remained only one component of who they are. The findings of this study provide a greater understanding of the experiences and views of youth with MS and offer guidance for nurses to enhance care."

[TYSABRI] Biotechs Jump Ahead Of Key FDA Decisions - Forbes.com

"MS's impact on my life"...by Luke Byers

TEENS WITH MS....IN THEIR OWN WORDS

"FDA Approved Controversial MS Drug Too Quickly": Expert: "But other EXPERTS say Tysabri, now withdrawn from market, met standard data requirements"

[FDA] "Questions and Answers on Tysabri Regarding Lifting of the Clinical Hold"

[Stem cells - fact sheet] "The Multiple Sclerosis Trust" UK

Evidence of link between exposure to aluminium and MS

FDA Extends Tysabri Meeting By One Day, Removes Clinical Hold

F.D.A. Allows Some Patients to Resume MS Drug - New York Times

Virtual reality cues for improvement of gait in patients with MS: "OBJECTIVE: T study the effects of visual cues, provided through a portable visual-feedback virtual reality (VR) apparatus, on the walking abilities of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS)

CONCLUSIONS: Patients with multiple sclerosis showed improvement in walking abilities using virtual reality visual-feedback cues.
"

FDA says Tysabri can be given to some MS patients

Due to the huge amount of MS patients signing up for our Weekly MS News...who live in Oregon...New Mexico..and California...we will be adding dates and links to MS walks in those states soon!...Click to Register online

Phoenix 'Walk on the Wild Side'
Start: 04/08/2006 - 6:00 AM
End : 04/08/2006 - 10:00 AM

Tucson MS Walk on the Wild Side
Start: 03/25/2006 - 7:00 AM
End : 03/25/2006 - 10:00 AM

[TYSABRI] "Rebif Market Share Seen Falling": "The expected re-approval of Elan Corp's (ELN) Tysabri will diminish market share of Serono's (SRA) rival product Rebif......."

[STUDY] Seasonal fluctuation of MS births: "Study results from different geographical areas provide some circumstantial evidence that, when compared with the general population, people who later in life develop multiple sclerosis (MS) have a pattern of birth excess numbers in spring and late summer, which may disclose an association with MS-predisposing environmental agents.....MORE"

EurekAlert (press release): "Young-Huen Jee, Ph.D., a post-doctoral fellow at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, recently received a $50,000 fellowship award from the Hob Family Foundation to support her research of treatment for MS.

Dr. Jee's research focuses on action mechanisms of the MS drug Copaxone in Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis (EAE), a form of MS. When she joined Barrow's Neuroimmunology Laboratory in March 2005, Dr. Jee began testing the effect of Copaxone in mice without specialized immune system proteins that help eliminate disease. Surprisingly, she found that the drug protected them from becoming afflicted with EAE.

Her discovery challenged the prevailing view of the way Copaxone functions and prompted her to investigate alternative mechanisms of the drug's action. Dr. Jee's initial findings received enthusiastic comments from International Immunology and have been accepted for publication in this prestigious journal. Her current results suggest that Copaxone's ability to prevent EAE occurs largely through its effect on regulatory T cells, which are specialized cells of the immune system.

'In a very short time, Dr. Jee has uncovered a previously unrecognized mechanism underlying several important routes through which the immune system can modulate MS, an incapacitating disease of humans,' says Timothy Vollmer, M.D., chairman of Barrow's Neurology Department. 'Her discoveries will pave the way for novel therapies based on targeting NKT cells to control disease.'"

MS Won't Stop This Work at Home Mom: "Jacqueline Oddos life changed one day last year when she woke up feeling tingly all over. A diagnosis of multiple sclerosis came a few months later.Unwilling to give in to the incurable autoimmune disease that affects approximately 400,000 people, Oddo decided to start a home business. Just launched this month, www.TaylorsBabyLove.com offers for baby. During MS Awareness Week, March 11-17, Oddo will donate 10% of proceeds from Taylors Baby Love to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society."

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition: "Sunday's show was about rebuilding a home for a woman with MS. ....'Don't get drunk, don't get pregnant and don't get too stressed out and good luck,' said Lisa Eorio, an M.S. Leader at the local chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. 'That was pretty discouraging to a 21 year-old and her family,' she added. She says her doctor told her that in 1976 when she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.....more"

Xanthus' Symadex shows Remyelination in MS Animal Model: "Xanthus Life Sciences, Inc., today announced that data from a study conducted with a Multiple Sclerosis (MS) animal model demonstrated that Symadex(TM) permitted remyelination by prevention of inflammatory cell infiltration. Stephen J. Karlik, Ph.D., Professor of Diagnostic Radiology at the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario presented the research findings on February 10, 2006 at the International Workshop on Myelin Imaging, in Vancouver......"

Antibody Test May Help Point to MS Early On: "A newly developed test may be the key to predicting MS even before symptoms are apparent, say doctors in a new research paper"

[NEWS RELEASE] "Nutra Pharma Reports Preclinical Results of RPI-78M in MS to Be Presented at Scientific Meeting": Nutra Pharma Corp. (OTCBB:NPHC) a biotechnology company that owns rights to intellectual property related to the development of drugs for HIV and Multiple Sclerosis, has announced that the studies using RPI-78M in an animal model of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) have been accepted for presentation and publication. RPI-78M is the lead drug candidate of Nutra Pharma's holding, ReceptoPharm, Inc. and is being studied in preclinical assays for its efficacy in treating MS.....[MORE].

[Tysabri] "Biogen Idec CEO awarded $1.2M bonus despite tough 2005": "Biogen Idec Inc.'s top executive was awarded a $1.2 million bonus and a 10 percent salary increase after a year in which the biotechnology company withdrew a promising drug from the market, leading to job cuts and 32 percent drop in its stock price,"

Spring 2006 Beanstock Music Festival funds to benefit MS: "The spring Beanstock Music Festival is scheduled for April 7-9th 2006 at Coyote Ridge Ranch. Beanstock offers a taste of local and national talent with the proceeds this spring assisting MS....."

[MS Profile] "Getting To Know ... Ginger Higgins"

Acorda’s Second Attempt At IPO Successful: $33M: "Acorda Therapeutics Inc. priced a $33 million initial public offering Friday, selling 5.5 million common shares at $6 apiece. The Hawthorne, N.Y.-based company now has the milestone in its rearview mirror, two years after dropping earlier plans to go public because of unfavorable market conditions.

Company representatives could not speak per SEC rules, but its prospectus said net proceeds will total about $28.6 million, and the company plans to spend the bulk of it to complete its pivotal study of Fampridine-SR (4-aminopyridine), a product for multiple sclerosis......."

CVS faces pharmacy reviews - The Boston Globe: "CVS Corp. will undergo outside safety reviews at its 309 pharmacies in Massachusetts as part of an unprecedented state settlement over scores of prescription errors, some of which resulted in patients being hospitalized.....The unusual action by the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Pharmacy is in response to complaints by consumers who said they received the wrong dosages or medications from CVS pharmacies. In all, the board investigated 80 complaints and substantiated 62 of them,...."

[STUDY] Defining the response to interferon-beta in relapsing-remitting MS patients: "OBJECTIVE: Many patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) are currently receiving treatment with interferon (IFN)-beta. Early identification of nonresponder patients is crucial to try different therapeutic approaches.""... "INTERPRETATION: Criteria of response to IFN-beta therapy in RRMS using disability progression are more clinically relevant than those based only in relapse rate. This finding may be important for the counseling and care of RRMS patients treated with IFN-beta...."

Medicare Part D is One-month Old: "Unfortunately, there have been hiccups in the rollout of the new Medicare Plan D program. The biggest issue is that people in need are still not receiving medication. If you're encountering challenges or know someone who is then you may find this Medicare Part D summary and list of resources helpful..."

Preventing Toxic Side Effects of Inflammatory Disease Therapy...University of California, San Diego: "Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine have developed a mouse model that could help scientists develop better drugs to fight autoimmune and inflammatory disorders such as multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.....
"

Serono Overly Optimistic On Rebif Prospects...even if rival drug Tysabri returns to the market: "Serono (SRA) Monday said it's optimistic that Rebif can gain market share even if rival drug Tysabri returns to the market, but JP Morgan doesn't share this optimism. 'We are more conservative, and expect Rebif to hold (market) shares post Tysabri's return."

[Press Release] "BIOMS MEDICAL’S PIVOTAL MS TRIAL RECEIVES THIRD POSITIVE REVIEW" BioMS Medical Corp. a developer in the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS), today announced that following the third meeting of the independent Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB), the Company has received a recommendation to continue its pivotal phase II/III clinical trial for MBP8298 for the treatment of secondary progressive multiple sclerosis...."

[BBC NEWS] Waiting lists for drugs to treat multiple sclerosis will be eliminated by March 2008

"MS in Focus Magazine... Issue 7 - Rehabilitation": "This issue of MS in focus discusses rehabilitation, a topic that is relevant regardless of a person's level of impairment or disease course.Each article presents the underlying principles, aims and evidence from the literature regarding specific areas of MS rehabilitation, contributed by members of teams from around the world."

People with MS - Profile: Cristina: "Cristina is from Argentina. She has been married for 40 years, she has two children and two grandchildren. Last year she published a book about her experiences with MS.
This is her story..."

[Press Release] MediciNova Announces Completion of Enrollment in a Phase II Multiple Sclerosis Trial with MN-166: "MN-166 is a novel, orally administered compound being evaluated for the treatment of MS. In July 2005, MediciNova initiated a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled multi-center Phase II clinical trial of MN-166 in MS patients in Eastern Europe. Two hundred and ninety-seven (297) patients have been randomized to receive placebo or one of two doses of MN-166 in this trial. Efficacy data is expected after one year of treatment (in this two year trial) in 1Q07. MN-166 inhibits leukotriene activity, phosphodiesterases and nitric oxide synthase, all inflammatory mechanisms known to...."

Acorda Therapeutics plans to go public: "Acorda Therapeutics, a company that is trying to develop medications to treat multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries and other neurological problems, plans to sell stock to the public, according to a document filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission...."

"Softening sales of key MS drug pushed Serono's fourth quarter results below expectations...": "Softening sales of key multiple sclerosis and fertility drugs pushed Serono's (SEO.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) fourth quarter results below expectations, but investors were more disappointed by a lack of news on the firm's possible sale"

[STUDY] Disability progression in MS is slower than previously reported: CONCLUSION: Disability progression in multiple sclerosis (MS) accrued more slowly than found in earlier longitudinal studies. The authors also challenged two fundamental concepts in MS, demonstrating that neither male sex nor older onset age was associated with worse disease outcome.

[STUDY] The effect of glatiramer acetate treatment on pre-existing headaches in patients with MS: During the first 6 months of glatiramer acetate therapy in 82 consecutive patients with multiple sclerosis, in only 6% frequency of pre-existing headaches increased by more than 50%. This is less than the headache aggravation reported in an earlier study in up to 35% of patients during the first 6 months on interferon beta.

How suitable are IUDs (non-hormonal) for patients with MS?: "Intrauterine devices (IUD) have been shown to be generally safe, effective and easy to use. Recently, hormone-releasing IUDs have become available and have the advantage of reducing menstrual flow and duration. There is some evidence that antibiotic or immunosuppressive drugs may reduce the effectiveness of the IUD."

Medical Marijuana Bill Passes NM Senate on 34-6 Vote: "People suffering from cancer, glaucoma, MS will be able to use medical cannabis to help relieve their symptoms in a bill that passed the New Mexico Senate today."

VIEW PHOTOSFrom California to New York; ages 19 to 61; men and women all tell their unique stories of how they live with and manage their MS. The exhibit, created by famed photographer Joyce Tenneson, is meant to help shatter many of the myths about MS. "There is grace, courage and hope in the everyday existence of people with MS and I believe that is what we have captured in the Image of MS portraits," says Joyce Tenneson, photographer

Half of people surveyed* about perceptions of MS incorrectly believe that MS is a fatal condition: To help dispel these and other myths, The Image of MS exhibit will challenge public perceptions about the disease and encourage those with symptoms of relapsing forms of MS to seek diagnosis and treatment as early as possible."

[Study] Neuropsychological training may help people with MS: "RESULTS: The results of the cognitive training programme were especially evident in the significant improvements in executive functions (CKV) and spatial-constructional abilities (HAWIE-R). Comparison between the treated and the control group showed no significant difference in the fatigue values (MFIS). However, when the treated group was examined over the three times of measurements, the symptoms of fatigue had diminished significantly. Regarding memory, comparison of the groups showed no changes; within the treated group; however, the verbal (VLT) and nonverbal learning and memory (NVLT) improved significantly. The results for sustained attention improved in both groups over time. It must be assumed that a learning effect had occurred here. The depression values (BDI) also improved in both study groups. The follow-up questionnaire showed that 60% (6) attributed an average to above-average benefit to the training...."

[Study] MMP-3 Levels and Relapses: "CONCLUSIONS: Circulatory MMP-3 levels are correlated with disease activity in relapsing-remitting MS. This may contribute to the breakdown of the blood-brain barrier at the time of relapse."

[Study] MS in stepsiblings: recurrence risk and ascertainment: "We found the risk of MS to be indistinguishable from that of the general population after diagnostic verification....."

[MSF Home] New Bill To Help More Veterans With MS: "A growing number of veterans, particularly from the first Gulf War, are now developing symptoms of MS. But they often face an uphill battle in obtaining disability benefits from the VA......New legislation introduced by Senator whose father has MS would end the VA%u2019s arbitrary seven-year limit to qualify for automatic VA benefits."

GemacBio announces the successful conclusion of Phase IIa clinical trials for its new molecule designed to treat MS/oral (sub-lingual) administration: " GemacBio scientists realized they needed to design a molecule that targeted all aspects of MS pathology. To achieve this, they grafted together several molecules occurring in the human body using a patented process. The resulting molecule applies this new approach in acting against a multifactorial pathology through a number of targets. The molecule is active in three areas: anti-inflammatory, immunomodulating, and neuroprotecting."