Past Episodes

This week, the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis is hosting the ECTRIMS 2018 Congress in Berlin, Germany. It's the largest MS conference in the world. And you can look forward to special episodes of RealTalk MS direct from ECTRIMS, on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, October 10th, 11th, and 12th! You'll get the news, hear the interviews, and you'll be the first to get the research updates and announcements as they're being made at the largest MS conference in t...

A lot of people visit the RealTalk MS website to listen to each podcast episode. I wanted to make that easier to do, so last week I released the RealTalk MS app for iOS or Android smartphones and tablets. The app will always have the latest episode of RealTalk MS cued up and ready for you to listen to, and it also lets me share all kinds of bonus content with you. Head to the Apple App Store to download the iOS version of the app, or the Google Play Store to download the Android version of the ...

The RealTalk MS podcast is celebrating its one-year anniversary this week! And to kick off our 2nd year, I'm launching the RealTalk MS app! You can download the iOS version of the app from the Apple App Store, and you can download the Android version from the Google Play Store. The app is free, and it's the very best (and easiest!) way for you to connect to the podcast. And the RealTalk MS app will allow me to share free bonus content with you. So in the weeks and months ahead, I'll be sharing v...

I spent this past weekend attending the iConquer MS Leadership Summit in Boston. iConquer MS is a people-powered research network created by the Accelerated Cure Project for MS. Instead of just asking people with MS to provide data, iConquer MS is driven by people living with MS, and it represents a new paradigm of building collaborative partnerships to solve big healthcare questions. This past spring, I had an in-depth conversation with Dr. Robert McBurney, CEO of the Accelerated Cure Project ...

My guest on the podcast is Mitch Sturgeon. Mitch is an award-winning blogger, and with the publication of his book, Enjoying the Ride: Two Generations of Tragedy and Triumph, Mitch is a published author, as well. In 2001, Mitch was diagnosed with Primary Progressive MS. He was 35 years old at the time, and that was the same age that Mitch's mother was when she took a fall that left her a quadriplegic. Mitch's book is more than just a reflection of his MS journey. It's a story about a family wit...

MS Research Australia has published a report titled, Health Economic Impact of Multiple Sclerosis in Australia 2017. The report provides a detailed snapshot of the economics behind MS, looking at employment, quality of life issues, and even calculating the cost per person living with MS in Australia. The report concludes with some powerful recommendations for future steps. My guest is Dr. Lisa Melton, Head of Research at MS Research Australia, and we're talking about what this report is telling...

Part of the unpredictability of multiple sclerosis is that it can attack in so many different ways. MS can impact your physical well-being, your emotional well-being, your functional abilities and your quality of life. And if your response to MS is to be seen by a single healthcare professional, some of those many aspects of MS can end up being overlooked and, sometimes, even unrecognized. And so they go untreated. That's why the best approach to treating MS is a team approach. My guest is Dr. ...

Shawn Feliciano was diagnosed with MS in 2009, and in 2012, she decided to challenge herself while raising awareness about MS by going on a Big Hike -- hiking 817 miles, from Utah to Arizona. Shawn's Big Hike may have been the perfect metaphor for living with the challenges of MS, and we're talking about having the resilience to take on a challenge, no matter what your personal Big Hike might be. We're also talking about a new study that demonstrates why it's in your best interest to stay on M...

Elizabeth Jameson is an artist who specializes in creating a bridge between art and neuroscience. Since being diagnosed with MS, Elizabeth has transformed her brain MRI scans into remarkable and provocative images that challenge how we view the brain, disability, and illness. In addition to creating her amazing artwork, Elizabeth is an ePatient Scholar and advisor to Stanford Medicine X, and she's written extensively about patient-centered healthcare, design, and the arts. This week, we're sta...

You've heard the statistic before -- 50% of the people living with MS will be diagnosed with depression. And research has shown us that some of the most troubling MS symptoms, including fatigue, cognition, and even physical disability, are all made worse by depression. Unfortunately, among people living with MS, depression is often overlooked, undiagnosed, and left to only get worse. So imagine an app that will tell you when you're heading toward depression before you even feel it. That's not s...