Home collection tins
We have raised £2030 in just under 4 years with home collection tins. Many thanks to those who have a tin and save their small change. Our new goal is £5k!! If you don’t have a tin and would like one please ask reception.
Win a £100 donation for Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Centre Oxfordshire
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| Please support Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Centre Oxfordshire on #easyfundraising this year, you can raise FREE donations when you shop online with over 4,400 retailers. It’s simple and only takes 2 minutes to sign up! This will make a BIG difference to us during this difficult time. Plus, if you sign up, we’ll get a £5 bonus donation: https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/omstc/?referral-campaign=c2s&utm_source=stwsharebox |
Win a £500 donation for Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Centre Oxfordshire
| Enter our Valentine’s Day Giveaway! View in browser WIN a £500 donation for your cause in our Valentine’s Day Giveaway! It’s completely FREE to enter – just visit the competition page and click any of the listed retailers before midnight on 14th February. To give your cause the best chance of winning, use your ready-made tools to encourage your supporters to enter too! Enter now Share this to give your cause a better chance of WINNING! Copy, paste, personalise and share I’ve just entered the #easyfundraising Valentine’s Day Giveaway to help Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Centre Oxfordshire WIN a £500 donation! You can enter too, simply visit the competition page and click any of the listed retailers before midnight on 14th February! Enter now: http://efraising.org/zIIYFWspqa  £34 million Raised  2.1 million Users 160,000 Causes |
Vaccine Scams – beware and stay safe
Sadly there are some people out there who are out to take advantage of the vaccine roll out and there are a number of scams being operated.
One is a fake NHS text message telling people they’re eligible to apply for the COVID-19 vaccine. A link directs you to a fake NHS website that asks for your personal/bank details to ‘check your identity’.
The NHS will not ask you to apply for the COVID-19 vaccine and there is no charge for it. When it’s your turn, we will contact you to book your appointment. For more on the COVID-19 vaccine visit http://nhs.uk/CovidVaccine and for more information about the different scams operating visit the Which? website by clicking here
Vitamin D
This week the role of Vitamin D in the fight against Covid has been discussed again. You can read about it in The Guardian by clicking here.
The role of Vitamin D has become an area of interest for researchers looking for MS treatments. The MS Society has made testing the benefits of Vitamin D supplements as one of its top 10 research priorities.
For most people, the biggest source of vitamin D in the summer is the sun. In the winter, it is recommended that you should be more mindful about how much Vitamin D you get from your food. This year there is a greater emphasis – due to lockdown people are less likely to enjoy as much time outside.
You can find out more about Vitamin D and MS here:
Unpaid carers and the Covid vaccine
It was announced that the JCVI (Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation) has included unpaid carers on the vaccination priority list (UK wide) group 6. Carers will be in a group higher up the list due to age if they are over 65.
If you are a carer, please make sure you are registered as one at your doctor surgery.
For more information please visit the Carers UK website by clicking here
Memory and MS
“I can’t seem to concentrate and lose my train of thought” Can you relate to this? Problems maintaining your concentration can be common for people with MS. This can make it hard to follow a good book, or a film. You may find situations with a lot of people difficult, or find that you lose track following a conversation. Concentration is involved in almost everything we do. It can affect how much we are able to enjoy TV shows or theatre trips. It can affect how well we can remember a message or conversation. It can affect how long we can work effectively on a household or employment task. Some tips and tricks to include your concentration include:
- It’s easier to concentrate in short bursts and when you’re interested in the information.
- Try to schedule important discussions at a time when you won’t be tired or fatigued, or arrange to have a rest beforehand.
- If you know that your attention is poor, think carefully about adding distractions to your environment. For example, using a satnav or listening to the radio whilst driving might not be a good idea.
For more ideas on improving your concentration, take a look at the MS Trust Staying Smart resource https://mstrust.org.uk/resources/staying-smart/attention
Potential new treatment for people with MS: what is the truth behind the headlines?
We have all welcomed the news of a Covid vaccine (well, most people anyway!). This last week you may have seen some headlines about how the science could use some of the science behind some of the vaccines to treat people with MS. But what is the truth behind the headlines?
The information below is taken from the MS Society website and the links will allow you to read all the MS Society and the MS Trust information on it.
Note from BMSTC: Whilst all potential treatments bring hope, it is essential to stress the word potential. Sadly there are no guarantees and if successful, how long it would take. Read the full article here:https://www.mssociety.org.uk/research/latest-research/research-blog/behi… Read the MS Trust article here: https://mstrust.org.uk/news/researchers-develop-mrna-vaccine-treat-ms-co… ‘New research suggests MS could be treated using mRNA, which has also been used to create two of the COVID-19 vaccines. We take a look behind the headlines to see what this could mean for people living with MS. We don’t yet know exactly what causes MS, so we don’t know how to prevent it. There’s currently no vaccine that can stop someone from developing MS, although there are steps you can take to lower your risk of developing the condition (like not smoking). However, the science behind two of the COVID-19 vaccines may have potential as a way of treating MS.
What was being tested?
Most of us would usually think of a vaccine as something that stops you from getting ill. Normally, vaccines teach our immune systems to fight an invading molecule like a virus. But the new mRNA treatment tested in this study, which was published in the journal Science, is different.
Unlike normal vaccines, this vaccine is not intended to prevent people from developing MS in the first place. Instead, it’s being tested as a potential treatment for people who already have MS.
In MS, the immune system attacks the protective myelin coating around our nerves. In this study, researchers wanted to know whether a type of mRNA containing the code for part of myelin can be used to teach the immune system to not attack myelin.
What does this mean for people with MS?
In the last 25 years we’ve made huge progress in developing treatments to reduce the immune attacks associated with MS. However, the treatments that are currently available for MS target the immune system as a whole and not just the cells that damage myelin. This means there are side effects. This is still very early-stage research and has only been tested in mice so far. Although this study has shown promising results, we don’t yet know whether this treatment would work in people with MS. We’d also still need to find ways to repair myelin that has already been damaged, and protect nerves from further degeneration.
Dr Emma Gray, our Assistant Director of Research, said: “There are over 130,000 people living with MS in the UK, and many don’t have access to effective treatments. This research highlights an interesting new approach and it’s great to see interest in applying this new mRNA technology to treating MS. “However, it is still in the very early stages and has only been tested in animals. We’d be excited to see more research to understand if and how this could benefit people with MS.”’
Covid Vaccine and MS – your questions answered
You may recall that a few months ago Consultant Neurologist, Professor Alasdair Coles, spoke to the MS Trust about the Covid vaccine and MS.
This week he has had his first vaccine and returns to answer some of the questions the MS Trust has been asked about Covid-19 vaccines for people with MS.
You can find more information about MS and Covid on the MS Trust website here: https://mstrust.org.uk/a-z/coronavirus-covid-19-and-multiple-sclerosis
Do you live with Multiple Sclerosis?
Researchers at the University of the West of Scotland invite you to be a part of an online focus group.
The focus group is open to anyone with MS who is a UK resident and over 18 years of age. The session will last approximately 1 hour, discussing your experiences of living with MS. Your input will ensure they tailor their future MS research to directly benefit their participants.
Estimated date: 15th – 26th February 2021.
To register your interest, or for more information, please contact the project researcher, Luke Cerexhe via email Luke.Cerexhe@uws.ac.uk
Project Supervisor: Prof Nicholas Sculthorpe,
