Past Episodes

Some people call them flares, some people call them exacerbations, and some people call them MS attacks. But all those terms refer to the very same thing -- an MS relapse. What does a relapse really mean in terms of disease progression? What's the difference between a relapse and a pseudo-relapse? How does pregnancy make you less likely to experience a relapse and then more likely to experience a relapse? Dr. Michelle Cameron is joining me to answer these questions and to share some advice on h...

The challenge of living with MS often begins with the challenge of getting a timely and accurate diagnosis. There are no symptoms, physical findings, or laboratory tests that can, by themselves, determine if someone has MS, and the most common symptoms of MS can often resemble symptoms of other conditions. All of these variables can sometimes lead to patients getting the wrong diagnosis. Dr. Andrew Solomon, Associate Professor of Neurological Sciences and Division Chief of Multiple Sclerosis at...

As the United States begins to move past the pandemic and toward something much closer to life as we once knew it, I've received a lot of questions from members of the RealTalk MS listener community who are concerned about how their disease-modifying therapy may affect the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine, whether the authorized vaccines will protect them from variants, and whether they should continue wearing a mask, despite encouraging recommendations from the CDC. As Chair of the National MS...

When Pierluigi Montovani saw what was available to help his father rehabilitate his MS-related foot drop, he was motivated to invent something better. Pierluigi recruited a couple of friends and their efforts led to a breakthrough solution for foot drop that was declared the winner of the Lyfebulb and Bristol Myers Squibb Addressing Unmet Needs in MS: Innovation Challenge. Pierluigi joins me as my guest this week to discuss EvoWalk, his award-winning example of innovation in MS rehabilitation. ...

The COVID-19 pandemic has created what experts are calling a mental health crisis of unparalleled proportion. Many people affected by MS have had to add pandemic-related stresses and anxieties to the already existing anxieties that come from living with a chronic illness. And that's a lot to carry around every day. Joining me to talk about managing your mood and quieting some of the noise in your head is psychologist, psychoanalyst, Certified Multiple Sclerosis Specialist, and MS Partner in Car...

This special episode of RealTalk MS is sponsored by EMD Serono and MS in the 21st Century. In today's episode, we're talking about empowering people living with MS to become full partners in their MS treatment and the importance of good communication between patients and their doctors. We're also introducing MS in the 21st Century, a resource that has just recently been made available to the MS community in the United States. My guests are Dr. Mitzi Joi Williams and Carolyn Kaufman. Dr. Willi...

In today's special episode of RealTalk MS, Dr. Michael Kornberg is going to give us a glimpse into emerging research and the future of MS treatments. So, if you'd like to peer into the not-too-distant future for a preview of the new MS therapies that will be available to you, this is the conversation you're looking for. Dr. Kornberg is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and, in addition to his clinical work, Dr. Kornberg's lab is focused on id...

With 200 million Americans having already received their COVID-19 vaccination, public health officials are warning that vaccine hesitancy is a growing challenge to our nation's ability to fully bounce back from the pandemic and resume something resembling the life we once knew. If what you're seeing and hearing about the COVID vaccines on social media or from well-meaning friends and family is making you nervous, my guest, Dr. Dorlan Kimbrough, is joining me to set the record straight. Dr. Kim...

Their website says that Destination Rehab takes an "innovative, out-of-the-box approach to physical therapy." This week, my guests are Sally McAllister and the founder of Destination Rehab, Dr. Carol-Ann Nelson. Sally is 70 years old and living with primary progressive MS. We're talking about how Sally's work with Dr. Nelson produced life-changing results. We're also talking about the first study that specifically measures the safety of the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID vaccine for people living with M...

MS affects almost 3 times as many women as men. Have you ever wondered why? When it comes to investigating sex differences in MS, my guest, Dr. Rhonda Voskuhl, has done more than just think about it. And her recent research may have uncovered an MS treatment for women undergoing menopause. Dr. Voskuhl is the President-elect of the International Organization for the Study of Sex Differences and the Director of the Multiple Sclerosis Program at UCLA. We're also talking about the potentially game...