Past Episodes

Last week, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis convened a meeting in Dublin, Ireland, to dive deeper into what a new framework for describing MS might look like. There's still a tremendous amount of work to be done here. But, considering that whatever language is eventually adopted will affect every person living with MS, I want to keep you fully informed on this important work. So I'm devoting this entire episode o...

If you're living with MS, you might experience days when it feels like you're losing your sense of who you are, as your sense of self gets redefined by your symptoms. Reasserting your personal style can be a powerful way to rediscover joy in who you are while reclaiming your identity. Jeri Zink Denz lives with MS and works in the luxury fashion industry. She's always been passionate about fashion and personal style, and Jeri joins me to discuss how you can find and define your personal style, d...

Most people living with MS don't see their neurologist often. For many, it might be only once or twice a year. A lot of important things take place during that appointment. Symptoms are assessed. Decisions about disease-modifying therapies are made or, sometimes, changed. Questions get asked and, hopefully, answered. Dr. Barbara Giesser returns to the podcast, this time, to review the things that should be discussed and followed up on at your appointment with your neurologist or MS specialist. ...

Welcome to the 400th episode of RealTalk MS! Over the past nearly eight years, it's been my absolute honor to bring you insights from leading experts, researchers, advocates, and, perhaps most importantly, from people living with MS themselves. And we have no intention of stopping here! We're excited to continue bringing you the information and conversations that matter most to the MS community. In this episode of the podcast, Dr. Tim Coetzee, President and CEO of the National MS Society, looks...

Research shows that spirituality can benefit mental health and improve overall well-being. And it can play a meaningful role in helping people cope with life's challenges, like living with MS. This week, Dr. Mana Ali Carter, a rehabilitation psychologist at MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington D.C., joins me to discuss the positive effects that spirituality can have on the mind and body, and how it's been shown to make a difference for people living with MS. We're also sharing...

Last week, at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting, Dr. Amit Bar-Or received the John Dystel Prize for Multiple Sclerosis Research for his multiple achievements that have advanced our knowledge of neuroimmunology, precision medicine, and biomarkers in MS. We talked with Dr. Bar-Or about how some of the latest discoveries in MS research would impact patient care. Tolebrutinib, an investigational disease-modifying therapy, is currently making its way through the FDA's regulatory proce...

For many people, it can be difficult to talk about the feelings of loss that can accompany MS. For some, it's the loss of the way they imagined their life would turn out. For others, it's the more specific loss of function. Perhaps the loss of their mobility. Or a decline in their cognitive skills. It's painful to imagine any of these scenarios, let alone experience them in real life. The human response to loss is grief. And grieving itself can affect your physical, emotional, and cognitive hea...

Managing MS means staying focused not only on your MS but also on your overall health. That includes getting routine health screenings to stay ahead of potential complications. Recent research has shown that, compared to healthy people, people with MS are more likely to develop some cancers. Clinician-scientist Dr. Ruth Ann Marrie joins me to discuss which cancers pose a greater risk to someone with MS, why you need to make those appointments for cancer screenings, where you can find low-cost o...

When you look at a list of the typical symptoms associated with perimenopause, you'd think you were looking at a list of MS symptoms. And, for women living with MS, that's where the confusion begins. With an estimated 30% of the current MS population now in peri- or post-menopause, researchers are beginning to focus on how menopause and MS interact and the best ways to treat symptoms. Dr. Riley Bove, a neurologist and founding director of the Sex and Gender-Enriched (SAGE) Neurology Program at ...

Next week, a couple of hundred MS activists will gather in Washington, D.C. for the National MS Society's Public Policy Conference. As we're seeing devastating cuts in funding for MS research, layoffs in every major governmental agency that impacts our healthcare, including the National Institutes of Health, the FDA, CDC, Health and Human Services, and the Department of Veterans Affairs, and even Medicaid funding is at serious risk, advocacy has never been more important than it is right now. I...