May
25
Multiple sclerosis patients and others urged state lawmakers today to legalize the use of marijuana in New Jersey to ease suffering, but others warned the practice could spur more drug abuse.
“We all are living proof that this is effective. This is common sense,” said Scott Ward of Robbinsville, a multiple sclerosis (MS) patient and former Marine who said minimal daily use of marijuana has made drastic improvements in his qualify of life.
Ward was one of several advocates who testified before the Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee. They spoke in favor of a bill (A-804) that would given special legal protection to victims of serious illness who smoke marijuana to ease their pain or symptoms.
read the rest: Lawmakers debate legalizing medical marijuana – NJ.com
May
13
ONDAY, May 12 (HealthDay News) — Only about 5 percent of people with multiple sclerosis are diagnosed when they’re children, but like adults with MS, the disease can affect cognitive function, causing memory and attention problems, and possibly low IQ scores.
And, the younger a child is at the time of diagnosis, the more likely he or she is to have a low IQ, according to new research published in the May 13 issue of the journal Neurology.
“In childhood cases, the impact of the disease on cognitive functioning may be more dramatic than that observed in adults,” said study author Dr. Maria Pia Amato, an associate professor of neurology at the University of Florence, in Italy.
read the rest: Multiple Sclerosis Affects Children’s Cognitive Skills
May
4
Even the Insured Feel Strain of Health Costs – New York Times
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The economic slowdown has swelled the ranks of people without health insurance. But now it is also threatening millions of people who have insurance but find that the coverage is too limited or that they cannot afford their own share of medical costs.
Many of the 158 million people covered by employer health insurance are struggling to meet medical expenses that are much higher than they used to be — often because of some combination of higher premiums, less extensive coverage, and bigger out-of-pocket deductibles and co-payments.
With medical costs soaring, the coverage many people have may not adequately protect them from the financial shock of an emergency room visit or a major surgery. For some, even routine doctor visits might now take a back seat to basic expenses like food and gasoline.
“It just keeps eating into people’s income,” said James Corbin, a former union official who works for the local utility in Tucson.
Mr. Corbin said that under their employer’s health plan, he and his co-workers are now obliged to pay up to $4,000 of their families’ annual medical bills, on top of about $1,600 a year in premiums. Five years ago, they paid no premiums and were responsible for only about $2,000 of their families’ medical bills.
“That’s a big jump,” Mr. Corbin said. “You’ve just lost a month’s pay.”
Already, many doctors say, the soft economy is making some insured people hesitant to get care they need, reluctant to spend a $50 co-payment for an office visit. Parents “are waiting longer to bring in their children,” said Dr. Richard Lander, a pediatrician in Livingston, N.J. “They say, ‘The kid isn’t that sick; her temperature is only 102.’ ”
The problem of affording health care is most acute for people with no insurance, a group expected to soon exceed 48 million, but those with insurance say they too are feeling the pain.
Read more: Even the Insured Feel Strain of Health Costs – New York Times
May
1
Prozac May Help Curb Disease Activity In Multiple Sclerosis
Filed Under News, Research | Leave a Comment
ScienceDaily (May 2, 2008) — The antidepressant Prozac may help to curb disease activity in the relapsing remitting form of multiple sclerosis (MS), reveals preliminary research published ahead of print in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.The research team randomly allocated 40 patients with the relapsing remitting form of MS to treatment with either 20 mg daily of fluoxetine (Prozac) or an inactive substance (placebo) for a period of 24 weeks.
Detailed brain scans (magnetic resonance images or MRI) every four weeks were used to check for new areas of neurological inflammation, a hallmark of active disease. In total, 38 patients–19 in each group–completed the study. The scans showed that those in the placebo group had more new areas of inflammation than those treated with Prozac.
The effects began to become evident after eight weeks, which corresponds to the time the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class of drugs, of which Prozac is one, start to work on relieving depression.
read more: Prozac May Help Curb Disease Activity In Multiple Sclerosis