Download the PDF of MSAA’s Publication: The Motivator – Summer/Fall 2013.

Download the PDF of MSAA’s Publication: The Motivator – Summer/Fall 2012.

It has certainly been an exciting summer for MSAA! At the beginning of the summer, MSAA announced that US Olympic swimmer Missy Franklin had become our new Swim for MS Ambassador. During the London 2012 Olympic Games, my niece Missy not only made MSAA proud, but the entire country! Winning five Olympic medals, including four gold medals, plus setting new Olympic and World records, her performance was inspiring to all. In the coming months, you will hear more about her involvement with MSAA and our exciting Swim for MS program.

Q: When should someone stop a disease-modifying therapy (DMT)? I have not had a relapse for several years, but my doctor has mentioned that I may have progressed from relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) to secondary-progressive MS (SPMS), in which case I might not experience relapses anyway. If this is true, I would not need to go to the expense or trouble of taking injections every-other day. However, if Betaseron is contributing to my recent lack of relapses, should I risk stopping it?

On September 12, 2012, Sanofi and its subsidiary Genzyme announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved their new drug, Aubagio® (oral teriflunomide), for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS).

MSAA is proud to mark the 10-year anniversary of one of our most sought-after programs: the MRI Institute. Supported by EMD Serono, Inc. and Pfizer Inc since the program’s inception in 2002, the MRI Institute provides cranial MRI scans to MS patients who otherwise could not afford the test due to lack of insurance or steep coverage limits. Over the past decade, this critical program has benefited more than 7,500 individuals with MS across the country.

Most gifts to MSAA are random. They come as people think of adding to the quality of life for someone affected by MS, or are prompted by a letter or telephone call.

Aquatic therapy, a sub-specialty in the fields of physical or occupational therapy that is done in a swimming pool, can benefit people with MS by improving flexibility and motion, allowing muscles to relax, and reducing pain. Aquatic exercise – exercises done in a pool – can also help achieve these same results. Knowledge of swimming is not required for either aquatic therapy or aquatic exercise.

The Motivator – Spread the Word: Three informative books from MSAA’s Lending Library are featured.

“In 1868, Jean-Martin Charcot defined the clinical features and named the disorder we now know as multiple sclerosis (MS) – and speculation about cause and potential therapies began. Initially, the treatments applied to an MS patient were those used for any serious neurologic disease and included a list of drugs thought to be sedatives and others that were stimulants: foxglove, Indian tobacco, aconite, hemlock, coffee, musk, garlic, asafoeteda, valerian, castor, oil of amber, skunk cabbage, alcohol, ether, chloroform, opium, hops, deadly nightshade, henbane, Hoffman anodyne, and extract of hemp.