Last week, NICE finally published the long-awaited guidance on Cannabis-based medicinal products. (www.nice.org.uk/guidance/NG144). This has been extensively reported on in the mainstream media and whilst it is a step in the right direction for the use of Sativex® for patients with spasticity associated with MS (and a reversal on the initial draft guidance), it won’t allow all...
Alignment
Professor Gavin Giovannoni (Prof G) and his team of clinicians and researchers at Barts and at the Royal London Hospital — like many of their medical colleagues — are in frequent contact with pwMS (people with multiple sclerosis), many of whom are untreated. The reason that these pwMS are on no treatment is often economic. No treatment due to economic reasons and can occur in both developed as...
The NHS at its finest
What do you think of this? Reacting to the figures which show a rise in racist abuse suffered by NHS staff, Health Secretary @MattHancock says it's 'shocking' and 'truth be told I've seen it myself on night shifts in hospitals… I think it's horrific.' pic.twitter.com/y9l85Mmwcr— ITV News (@itvnews) October 31, 2019 Quite shocking, let’s hope this is a...
Do we really have equipoise about DMTs?
A guest post from Dr Emma Tallantyre, Cardiff. Definition: Clinical equipoise, also known as the principle of equipoise, provides an ethical basis for medical research that involves assigning patients to different treatment arms of a clinical trial. In short, clinical equipoise means that there is genuine uncertainty in the expert medical community over whether a treatment will be beneficial...
Why is research important?
Conspiracy
A reader (see below) sent us the following letter from George Ebers to the EMA dated 9th September 2013. In the letter, George Ebers pulls no punches and makes several controversial claims about Industry, Academics, Journals, Universities, MS Charities and the MS Establishment. Is there a conspiracy theory or not? As it has been 6 years since the letter was sent to the EMA has George Ebers’...
Resetting the work compass
Medical retirement hit me instantaneously; suddenly I knew the time had arrived. My old friend multiple sclerosis had boxed me into a corner. I had spent the last 15 years working as an international contract analyst programmer travelling all over the world. I had SPMS but retirement at 58 was not on my horizon. I had discovered methods to cope with the problem of MS but my OOMPH was definitely...
#ThinkHand collaboration
I’m an artist, a painter, and a person with MS. I’m looking for volunteers to take part in and contribute to a new artwork inspired by the #ThinkHand campaign. My intention is to carry out several unorthodox and experimental portraits of people who are affected by the disease in various ways and stages. I would like to invite everyone who has MS or a carer or otherwise affected by the...
Prof K
Whilst we were at ECTRIMS in Stockholm DrK got an email from our University informing him that his promotion was successful! Dr K is now Prof K! I think we should all clap hands, raise a glass of champagne and congratulate him on a well-deserved promotion. Professor Klaus Schmierer ProfK’s academic accomplishments have been well-rehearsed on this blog. He is an international expert on...
Guest post: Multiple Sclerosis from a researcher’s perspective
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an incurable neurological disorder that is characterized by the loss of specialized functional cells in our brain. Oligodendrocytes are one of these specialized cell types that play an important role in MS. They produce a fatty substance called myelin, which is produced in large sheaths that are tightly wrapped around our nerve cells. Myelin is essential for providing...