Source Multiple Sclerosis News Today: Physical exercise fights fatigue and depression in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study reveals.

Remarkably, these positive outcomes in psychological health can be achieved without significant alterations in the patient’s body weight or body mass index (BMI), further supporting the idea that exercise could be an effective therapeutic intervention for MS.

The study with these findings, “Effect of Short-Term Interval Exercise Training on Fatigue, Depression, and Fitness in Normal Weight vs. Overweight Person With Multiple Sclerosis,” was published in EXPLORE: The Journal of Science and Healing.

MS patients usually are advised to maintain a healthy diet, as diet and body weight can interfere with their energy levels, body functions, and disease progression.  Read on. 

Source BBC:  The over-65s vaccine will protect against three strains of flu, but people under 65, in the so-called at-risk groups, will be offered a vaccine that protects against four types of flu.  At-risk groups include pregnant women and those with long-term health conditions.

The enhanced vaccine that will be given this year contains extra ingredients designed to help aged immune systems develop a stronger defence against flu.

It is hoped the “adjuvanted vaccine” will help ease pressures on the health service.

Public Health England estimates the vaccine will lead to:

• 30,000 fewer GP appointments
• 2,000 fewer people needing hospital care
• 700 fewer deaths from flu

Prof Paul Cosford, from Public Health England, told the BBC: “This looks like it is going to be is a significant improvement and quite a step in our battle against flu each winter.” Read on.

Source the Telegraph:  “As doctors, we are left feeling powerless when we deliver the devastating diagnosis of PPMS to people because we know there is currently no disease-modifying treatment available to help them.

“It is even more frustrating that an effective treatment that can help slow the disease has been developed and made available across the globe yet people in England and Wales will continue to suffer disability worsening because of an archaic and inflexible medicine assessment system.”

Thousands of multiple sclerosis patients have been denied a drug which could delay them needing a wheelchair for seven years, even though the manufacturer has agreed to slash the price.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) today announced that it will not be funding ocrelizumab for primary progressive MS available on the NHS in England and Wales.  Read on.

Source MS Society: Ocrelizumab should be available on the NHS for everyone with primary progressive MS who could benefit. We call on NHS England, the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and Roche to work together to secure a deal to make that happen.

Raise your voice and help the MS Society tell NICE and NHS England: give people with primary progressive MS access to ocrelizumab.  Sign their petition

Do you or your partner have MS? Would you like to help design an app to help people with MS manage fatigue? The University of Sheffield has asked for volunteers to help with their research study. They asked a group of people with MS, and a group of healthcare professionals, about what they thought the contents and appearance of a fatigue management app should be. They would like to know how far you agree or disagree with the things they said. You can take part in this research if you are: over 18 years of age someone living with MS, or experiencing MS-like symptoms regardless of whether or not you have received a diagnosis you have a partner who has MS you are a professional who works with people with MS For further information contact Dr. Peter Cudd (Senior Researcher) at p.cudd@sheffield.ac.uk or Dr Abigail Millings (Lecturer in Psychology) at a.millings@sheffield.ac.uk

Source Science Daily: Cleveland Clinic researchers have discovered a new subtype of multiple sclerosis (MS), providing a better understanding of the individualized nature of the disease.

MS has long been characterized as a disease of the brain’s white matter, where immune cells destroy myelin — the fatty protective covering on nerve cells. The destruction of myelin (called demyelination) was believed to be responsible for nerve cell (neuron) death that leads to irreversible disability in patients with MS. Read on.