If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, this book should be your first stop. Written in easy-to-understand language by an MS specialist, this guide explores the questions that patients and their families typically ask—from disease basics, to treatment options, managing relapses, and lifestyle concerns, including diet and working.
Whether newly diagnosed or coping with the unpredictable day-to-day, this valuable reference will arm you with the latest information. Designed to be a thorough, yet concise summary of all aspects of MS, the book simplifies complex medical topics and is based on the latest science. For patients at any stage and the people who support them, Multiple Sclerosis: Questions and Answers for Patients and Loved Ones provides the answers you need to understand this disease, its challenges, and the medical treatments and other tools now available for managing it successfully.
Key Features:
- Complete guide with straightforward answers to the most frequently asked questions by MS patients
- Up-to-date information on treatment options, including the benefits and drawbacks of new MS medications and who should be taking them
- Addresses special topics, such as pregnancy in combination with MS treatments and working after diagnosis
- Presents an overview of symptoms with tips on how to combat them
- Offers useful advice about symptom management and lifestyle changes to meet the physical and emotional challenges MS brings
Table of Content
Preface
Acknowledgments
Share Multiple Sclerosis: Questions and Answers for Patients and Loved Ones
1. An Introduction to MS
1. What Are the Worst Symptoms for Newly Diagnosed Patients?
2. What Is MS?
3. Neuroscience Basics
4. What Happens in MS?
5. What Causes MS?
6. How Is MS Diagnosed?
7. Do I Need a Lumbar Puncture?
8. What Should I Expect With a Lumbar Puncture?
9. What Are the Initial Symptoms of MS?
10. What Is a Relapse?
11. What Are the Stages and Different Types of MS?
12. How Can I Tell What Stage of MS I’m in?
13. What Is the Prognosis of MS?
14. What Is the Life Expectancy for People With MS?
15. Will I Wake up One Day and Not Be Able to Walk?
16. Do Relapses Matter?
17. What About Pediatric MS?
2. The MRI and MS
18. What Is an MRI and What Does It Show in MS?
19. How Are MRIs Used to Diagnose MS?
20. How Do MRIs Help With Relapses?
21. How Do MRIs Help With Disease Surveillance?
22. Do All White Spots Mean MS?
3. Treating MS Part I: Relapses
23. How Are Relapses Treated?
24. What Are the Side Effects of Steroids?
25. Are There Options Besides Steroids for Relapses?
26. What Is ACTHAR?
27. What Is Plasmapheresis?
4. Treating MS Part II: Disease-Modifying Therapies
28. What Are the Disease-Modifying Therapies?
29. How Do We Evaluate the Medications for MS?
30. What Is the EDSS?
31. Why Is MS a Difficult Disease to Study?
32. Why Should I Take a Medication if I Feel Fine?
33. Which Medicine Should I Start Taking?
34. What Are Monoclonal Antibodies?
35. What Is Tysabri (natalizumab)?
36. What Are the Risk Factors for PML in Patients on Tysabri?
37. How Is PML Diagnosed?
38. Can PML Be Treated?
39. What Is Lemtrada (alemtuzumab)?
40. What Is Ocrevus (ocrelizumab)?
41. What About the Oral Medications?
42. What Is Gilenya (fingolimod)?
43. What Are the Downsides to Gileyna?
44. What Is Aubagio (teriflunomide)?
45. What Is Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate)?
46. PML Summary
47. What Is Novantrone (mitoxantrone)?
48. How Do I Know if My Medication Is Working?
49. What Is Dangerous for Patients with MS?
50. Will I Have to Take This Medication for the Rest of My Life?
51. Can Medications Be Combined?
52. What About Stem Cells?
53. What About Treating Pediatric MS?
54. Why Is Progress in MS So Difficult?
55. Should I Take Any Supplements?
56. What About Vitamin D?
57. What About Biotin?
58. What About “Cure-Alls” in MS?
5. Treating MS Part III: Symptoms
59. What Are Symptomatic Treatments for MS?
60. What About Marijuana?
61. What Is Polypharmacy?
62. What Is the Role of Physical Therapy in MS?
63. What Is the Role of Occupational Therapy in MS?
64. What Mobility Assistive Devices Are Available?
6. Lifestyle and MS
65. What Lifestyle Changes Should I Make?
66. What Is the Best Thing I Can Do for My Health?
67. Should I Change My Diet?
68. Should I Get the Flu Vaccine?
69. Should I Stop Working?
7. Pregnancy and MS
70. How Does Pregnancy Affect the Course of MS?
71. What About Fertility Treatments?
72. How Are Relapses Managed During Pregnancy?
73. What About Disease-Modifying Therapies During Pregnancy?
74. What About Symptomatic Therapies in Pregnancy?
75. What About MRIs in Pregnancy?
76. What About Labor and Delivery?
77. What About the Postnatal Period?
78. What About Breastfeeding?
Glossary
Index
About the author
Jonathan Howard, MD, Departments of Neurology and Psychiatry, NYU Langone School of Medicine
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