Past Episodes

With hospital rates starting to decline and mask mandates being lifted in several states there seems to be a general sense that we're seeing COVID-19 becoming an endemic virus. And we have to wonder what that means for people living with MS. Dr. Nancy Sicotte joins me to talk about the preventative treatments for COVID-19 that are available today for people who are living with MS, the importance of receiving 4 doses of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines if you're living with MS, and some of the things ...

Research shows that about 50% of the people living with MS will develop another chronic health condition, or comorbidity, in their lifetime. Whether it's high blood pressure, diabetes, or something else, living with comorbid conditions adds extra challenges to living with MS. Joining me to discuss how comorbidities affect people living with MS and what you can do to avoid developing some of those comorbidities is one of the leading experts on the subject, Dr. Ruth Ann Marrie. We're also talkin...

Now that Harvard researchers have presented compelling evidence that MS is triggered by the Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV), what does it mean in terms of ending MS in the world? What does it mean for people already living with MS? And how will this announcement impact MS research? Joining me to unpack the details and implications of this research breakthrough is the Executive Vice-President of Research for the National MS Society, Dr. Bruce Bebo. We're also talking about new research from Stanford U...

Fatigue is one of the most common symptoms of MS. It just gets in the way of fully engaging in life, making fatigue one of the most bothersome symptoms of MS. And because MS fatigue is one of the main causes of early withdrawal from the workforce, fatigue is an MS symptom that can impose a hefty financial penalty on a household. Joining me to talk about managing and even reducing MS fatigue is Dr. Elizabeth Gromisch, a neuropsychologist at the Mandell Center for Multiple Sclerosis in Hartford, ...

This special episode of RealTalk MS is sponsored by EMD Serono and MS in the 21st Century. In this special episode of RealTalk MS, we're talking with Pieter van Galen and Amanda Montague about that sometimes-challenging conversation with your healthcare provider about MS progression. We're also highlighting My MS Roadmap, a free tool designed to make conversations with your healthcare provider easier by offering clear and easy to understand definitions of the complex language used to describe ...

Last week, a research team at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health presented compelling evidence that the Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) triggers multiple sclerosis. So, we're taking a deep dive into the role of EBV and MS. We'll review the breakthrough results of this research and we'll re-share our conversation with one of the researchers in this game-changing study. We'll review the status of an experimental cell therapy that's designed to remove the EBV virus from infected b-cells in pe...

This special episode of RealTalk MS is sponsored by EMD Serono and MS in the 21st Century. Cognitive impairment affects more than 50% of the people living with MS. In this special episode of RealTalk MS, we're talking with Dr. Sarah Morrow and Paola Kruger about how people living with MS can work together with their healthcare providers to develop a constructive dialogue about cognition and MS. Dr. Sarah Morrow is an Associate Professor of Neurology in the Department of Clinical Neurological S...

For some people, getting a headache means experiencing mild discomfort. For others, it can mean debilitating pain, compromised vision, and other serious effects. You don't have to be living with MS to experience a headache. But research has shown that people living with MS are more likely to experience headaches than people who don't have MS. And there's some evidence to suggest that headaches may be one of the earliest symptoms of MS. Meagan Adamson is a nurse practitioner who specializes in t...

We're four days into 2022 and, for a lot of us, that means that we're four days into a new diet, four days into a new exercise regimen, or four days into some other life-changing behavior. Making healthy lifestyle changes is good for everyone and there's plenty of evidence that shows these kinds of behavioral changes can be especially beneficial if you're living with MS. But too often, we see the well-intentioned resolutions that we make in January fade into distant memories by March. It doesn'...

Today, we're re-visiting my favorite conversation of the entire year and it seems that you and I agree! You've made it this year's most downloaded and listened-to episode. In this episode, Dr. Bruce Bebo, the Executive Vice-President of Research at the National MS Society, briefs us about some of the most interesting and important research shared at ECTRIMS 2021, the largest MS research conference in the world. We have a lot to talk about! Are you ready for RealTalk MS??! Wishing you a happy ...