Past Episodes

The caregiver's journey doesn't always get paid the proper amount of attention until a family caregiver finds themselves feeling isolated, overwhelmed, drained, and depressed. But it doesn't have to come to that. My guest is Dr. Kate Lorig, lead author of Building Better Caregivers: A Family Caregiver's Guide to Reducing Stress and Staying Healthy. And we're talking about how to go about building better caregivers. We're also talking about a new MRI technique that may enable doctors to identify...

My guest this week is Dr. Rhonda Voskuhl, Director of the Multiple Sclerosis Program at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the Jack H. Skirball professor of Multiple Sclerosis Research. Dr. Voskuhl is responsible for first identifying that understanding the gender differences in the disease is an important part of understanding MS. This is one of my favorite interviews, and it's packed with great information. We're also talking about the potential of data and technology to improve ...

Using cannabis to treat MS symptoms has become a hot topic. And thanks to social media, a lot of opinions about cannabis and MS are posted as if they're facts...and that's not always the case. So, we're talking about cannabis and MS in this episode of RealTalk MS. We'll try to demystify it a bit and we'll give you an idea of what some of the research is telling us. We'll talk about which MS symptoms cannabis might be good for...and which ones it might not be good for. We're also talking about t...

When you google the phrase "stem cell therapy for MS", it can feel like you fell into a black hole of conflicting information, misinformation, and dodgy information that can be full of promises designed to speak directly to someone who is anxiously and sometimes desperately looking for a miracle cure for a debilitating condition. And there's also plenty of good, credible information available online. But how do you go about separating the wheat from the chaff? We're going to try to jump start th...

We talk a lot about MS research. And when we do, we talk about the "investigators"...the experts...the scientists in the laboratories who are expanding our collective knowledge about MS. But who are these folks? How do you become an "investigator"? And why does someone decide that they want to make MS research their professional focus? My guest on the podcast is Dr. Elisabeth Mari, Director of Biomedical Research for the National MS Society. Dr. Mari takes us behind the scenes and walks us thro...

MS Activist Marques Jones is running for public office in his home state of Virginia. Marques and I sat down to discuss how his role as an MS Activist led to his candidacy, and how his MS diagnosis has continued to inform his business life and his political life. We're also talking about the existential threat that now exists for people with pre-existing medical conditions in the U.S., how the MSAA can provide financial assistance for your MRI exam, how Ocrevus may delay the need for a wheelcha...

Experts estimate that depression affects about 50% of the people diagnosed with MS. And, left unchecked, depression can take your vibrant, colorful world and re-draw it in somber shades of gray. If there's good news about depression, it's that it can be treated. In this special Vacation Edition of RealTalk MS, we're going to revisit a really important conversation that I had last November with Dr. Amy Sullivan, Director of Behavioral Medicine, Research and Training at the Mellen Center for Mult...

At the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers Annual Meeting, I learned about the Pediatric MS Alliance from Jill Blackburn. I met Dr. Miriam Franco and learned about the app that she's developed and you'll want to download. And I sat down with Dr. Rosalind Kalb and MS Activist Marques Jones to learn about MS Path 2 Care - a new set of educational modules designed to empower people living with MS to be active participants in their own care & treatment. We're also talking about a study that de...

I've invited a very special guest to talk about the subject that I've received -- by far -- the most requests to discuss on the podcast, and that's sexual function and MS. We're also talking about the International Progressive MS Alliance's future strategies, World MS Day, and we're giving away an Amazon Echo Dot! We have a lot to talk about! Are you ready for RealTalk MS? ____________ MS Conference Update :51 International Progressive MS Alliance Announces Future Strategies 4:06 World MS Da...

The RealTalk MS podcast is coming to you from the Sheraton Centre Hotel in Toronto, Canada, where the International Progressive MS Alliance is holding its 3rd Scientific Congress. The theme of the event is Making a Difference Through Rehabilitation & Symptom Management. Yesterday's session included a presentation on how some of the insights from stroke rehabilitation can be transferred to MS rehabilitation. There were detailed presentations on some of the key areas impacting translational strat...