Showing posts with label fighting back against MS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fighting back against MS. Show all posts
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Sister Kenny, Minnesota
There is something to be said about not being able to use your legs properly. This was the case for me recently and I ended up staying, for 10 days, at Sister Kenny Rehab Institute in Minnesota. They are well known for their rehabilitation regime and it worked for me. With the use of botox shots in my leg and some good physical and occupational therapy I am back home. My leg is still giving me a little trouble but there continues to be physical therapy at home and I know that I will be able to 'achieve' again.
Monday, September 22, 2008
More Patients With Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis Are Disease-Free With Natalizumab:
More Patients With Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis Are Disease-Free With Natalizumab: Presented at WCTRMS
By Danny Kucharsky
MONTREAL -- September 21, 2008 -- Natalizumab significantly increases the proportion of disease-free patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) compared with placebo over 2 years, according to study results presented here at the World Congress on Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (WCTRMS).
The study, led by Eva Havrdova, MD, General Teaching Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic, evaluated the effects of natalizumab on the proportion of MS patients who were disease free as measured by clinical and magnetic-resonance-imaging (MRI) outcomes in the phase 3 Natalizumab Safety and Efficacy in Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis (AFFIRM) study.
The study randomised 627 patients to receive intravenous natalizumab 300 mg and 315 patients to placebo once every 4 weeks for up to 116 weeks.
The post hoc analyses, presented on September 18 by Dr. Havrdova and colleagues, found the proportion of disease-free patients was significantly higher in the natalizumab group compared with the placebo group.
Criteria for clinical disease-free status were no relapse and no disability progression for 12 weeks, free of MRI disease activity, no gadolinium-enhancing (Gd+) lesions, and no new or enlarging T2-hyperintense lesions.
Based on clinical outcomes, 70.6% of natalizumab patients had no relapse over 2 years compared with 43.3% of the placebo group. Progression-free status was achieved in 83.6% of natalizumab and 71.7% of placebo patients, and 64.3% of natalizumab and 38.9% of placebo patients were clinically disease-free (P < .0001, for all outcomes).
Natalizumab monotherapy significantly increased the proportion of patients with no Gd+ lesions (94.9% natalizumab vs 56.6% placebo), the proportion with no new or enlarging T2 lesions (58.3% vs 14.9%), and the proportion of patients with no MRI lesion activity (57.7% vs 14.2%) over 2 years compared with placebo (P < .0001, for all outcomes).
The proportion of patients who were free of clinical and MRI disease activity was significantly greater with natalizumab than placebo over 2 years (36.7% vs 7.2%, P < .0001).
Dr. Havrdova said the disease-free concept has not been well considered by the MS community, but should be discussed "because this goal is potentially within reach as more effective therapies are introduced."
Funding for this study was provided by Biogen Idec, Inc. and Elan Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
[Presentation title: Natalizumab Increases the Proportion of Disease-Free Patients in Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis. Abstract P62]
http://www.docguide.com/news/content.nsf/news/852571020057CCF6852574CB007AFCDE
By Danny Kucharsky
MONTREAL -- September 21, 2008 -- Natalizumab significantly increases the proportion of disease-free patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) compared with placebo over 2 years, according to study results presented here at the World Congress on Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (WCTRMS).
The study, led by Eva Havrdova, MD, General Teaching Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic, evaluated the effects of natalizumab on the proportion of MS patients who were disease free as measured by clinical and magnetic-resonance-imaging (MRI) outcomes in the phase 3 Natalizumab Safety and Efficacy in Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis (AFFIRM) study.
The study randomised 627 patients to receive intravenous natalizumab 300 mg and 315 patients to placebo once every 4 weeks for up to 116 weeks.
The post hoc analyses, presented on September 18 by Dr. Havrdova and colleagues, found the proportion of disease-free patients was significantly higher in the natalizumab group compared with the placebo group.
Criteria for clinical disease-free status were no relapse and no disability progression for 12 weeks, free of MRI disease activity, no gadolinium-enhancing (Gd+) lesions, and no new or enlarging T2-hyperintense lesions.
Based on clinical outcomes, 70.6% of natalizumab patients had no relapse over 2 years compared with 43.3% of the placebo group. Progression-free status was achieved in 83.6% of natalizumab and 71.7% of placebo patients, and 64.3% of natalizumab and 38.9% of placebo patients were clinically disease-free (P < .0001, for all outcomes).
Natalizumab monotherapy significantly increased the proportion of patients with no Gd+ lesions (94.9% natalizumab vs 56.6% placebo), the proportion with no new or enlarging T2 lesions (58.3% vs 14.9%), and the proportion of patients with no MRI lesion activity (57.7% vs 14.2%) over 2 years compared with placebo (P < .0001, for all outcomes).
The proportion of patients who were free of clinical and MRI disease activity was significantly greater with natalizumab than placebo over 2 years (36.7% vs 7.2%, P < .0001).
Dr. Havrdova said the disease-free concept has not been well considered by the MS community, but should be discussed "because this goal is potentially within reach as more effective therapies are introduced."
Funding for this study was provided by Biogen Idec, Inc. and Elan Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
[Presentation title: Natalizumab Increases the Proportion of Disease-Free Patients in Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis. Abstract P62]
http://www.docguide.com/news/content.nsf/news/852571020057CCF6852574CB007AFCDE
Monday, June 16, 2008
MS Can't Stop Bodybuilder
MS can't stop bodybuilder
Aiming for berth at world championships
By KIRK PENTON
Felstead, who suffers from MS, will compete in his third Canadian Bodybuilding Federation world qualifier. BRIAN DONOGH/SUN MEDIA
When you look at that picture of bodybuilder Brent Felstead, one of the last things that would pop into your mind is multiple sclerosis.
He's ripped. He's athletic. He's healthy.
He has MS.
"That's partly why I don't mind sharing the story," the 42-year-old Ottawa native said yesterday. "Hopefully other people get the hint. There's lots of people out there who come to me and say, 'Once I got diagnosed I basically gave up on everything.' That does not have to be the case. I haven't given up anything."
He certainly has not. In fact, he will compete in his third Canadian Bodybuilding Federation world qualifier tomorrow at Winnipeg's Prairie Exchange Theatre. The top finisher in each weight class will earn a berth in the world championships in Bahrain this November.
If Felstead can win his division tomorrow, it would cap a remarkable comeback that started the day he was diagnosed: Oct. 29, 1999.
"That was probably the scariest portion of my life," he said. "At that time I was almost completely paralysed in my right leg. I was partially blind in my left eye, and I lost almost all the feeling through my torso."
Felstead, who started bodybuilding in 1995, stopped training for only two weeks after being diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS, which is the most common form of the disease. Between 2000 and 2003 he had one or two attacks a year, but they would sometimes last for months and often wiped away the muscle in the affected areas of his body.
To make sure his recovery from an attack was consistent, he would, for instance, work out his afflicted right leg as much as he could and then do the same number of reps with his healthy left.
The attacks, however, started striking with more frequency in 2004. In addition, his job with the Department of National Defence became more hectic. He had less time to work out, and it was taking a toll on his body.
"Basically I was losing ground," he said. "I was down to 160 pounds and was not nearly as muscular as I had been."
Then, in 2006, he made a decision that changed everything. He switched medication, injecting himself with Rebif three times a week, and hasn't suffered an attack since. So instead of having to constantly rebuild his muscles, he's been able to shape them for competitions like tomorrow's national championship.
More importantly, it's kept him in tremendous shape while battling a disease that can be debilitating if you allow it.
"By constantly challenging myself, by making myself do these competitions, I'm constantly making it essential for me to keep up that level of training," he said.
The physical effects Felstead experiences these days are a slight limp, and constant pain and numbness in his left hand. When his opponents see him limp, they ask him how he hurt himself training. Their initial reaction is disbelief when he tells them the truth.
To Felstead, it's just his life. He has a full-time job, two kids and a passion for bodybuilding.
"I don't allow it to limit me," he said. "That's always been my goal since diagnosis, to make sure that it interferes with your life as little as possible.
"I've done all right, and a lot of it is thanks to not giving up and keeping at it."
Aiming for berth at world championships
By KIRK PENTON
Felstead, who suffers from MS, will compete in his third Canadian Bodybuilding Federation world qualifier. BRIAN DONOGH/SUN MEDIA
When you look at that picture of bodybuilder Brent Felstead, one of the last things that would pop into your mind is multiple sclerosis.
He's ripped. He's athletic. He's healthy.
He has MS.
"That's partly why I don't mind sharing the story," the 42-year-old Ottawa native said yesterday. "Hopefully other people get the hint. There's lots of people out there who come to me and say, 'Once I got diagnosed I basically gave up on everything.' That does not have to be the case. I haven't given up anything."
He certainly has not. In fact, he will compete in his third Canadian Bodybuilding Federation world qualifier tomorrow at Winnipeg's Prairie Exchange Theatre. The top finisher in each weight class will earn a berth in the world championships in Bahrain this November.
If Felstead can win his division tomorrow, it would cap a remarkable comeback that started the day he was diagnosed: Oct. 29, 1999.
"That was probably the scariest portion of my life," he said. "At that time I was almost completely paralysed in my right leg. I was partially blind in my left eye, and I lost almost all the feeling through my torso."
Felstead, who started bodybuilding in 1995, stopped training for only two weeks after being diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS, which is the most common form of the disease. Between 2000 and 2003 he had one or two attacks a year, but they would sometimes last for months and often wiped away the muscle in the affected areas of his body.
To make sure his recovery from an attack was consistent, he would, for instance, work out his afflicted right leg as much as he could and then do the same number of reps with his healthy left.
The attacks, however, started striking with more frequency in 2004. In addition, his job with the Department of National Defence became more hectic. He had less time to work out, and it was taking a toll on his body.
"Basically I was losing ground," he said. "I was down to 160 pounds and was not nearly as muscular as I had been."
Then, in 2006, he made a decision that changed everything. He switched medication, injecting himself with Rebif three times a week, and hasn't suffered an attack since. So instead of having to constantly rebuild his muscles, he's been able to shape them for competitions like tomorrow's national championship.
More importantly, it's kept him in tremendous shape while battling a disease that can be debilitating if you allow it.
"By constantly challenging myself, by making myself do these competitions, I'm constantly making it essential for me to keep up that level of training," he said.
The physical effects Felstead experiences these days are a slight limp, and constant pain and numbness in his left hand. When his opponents see him limp, they ask him how he hurt himself training. Their initial reaction is disbelief when he tells them the truth.
To Felstead, it's just his life. He has a full-time job, two kids and a passion for bodybuilding.
"I don't allow it to limit me," he said. "That's always been my goal since diagnosis, to make sure that it interferes with your life as little as possible.
"I've done all right, and a lot of it is thanks to not giving up and keeping at it."
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