Source MS Society:

From the 29th September, some people with MS won’t have to be re-tested for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) after their next reassessment.

Last October the Government announced it would stop ESA reassessments for people with severe conditions who can’t work.

The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) has confirmed this change will start from today. They’ve also provided more detail about who it will apply to.  Read on. 

Source Parliament UK:

As part of our inquiry on PIP and ESA Assessments, the Work and Pensions Committee would like to hear about your experience of claiming PIP or ESA.

Inquiry: PIP and ESA Assessments
Work and Pensions Committee

Get involved

The web forum closes on Friday 10 November 2017.

If you have had an assessment, or are waiting for an assessment, for PIP or ESA, we’d like to hear from you.

You might want to tell us about:

• Did you feel that the right decision on your entitlement to ESA/PIP was reached as a result of your initial assessment?
• If not—what do you feel were the reasons for this?
• If you have experience of Mandatory Reconsideration, did you find this stage effective and useful? How might it be improved?
• Overall, how “claimant-friendly” did you find the assessment process?
• What steps would you recommend taking to improve it?

For more click here.

Source MS Trust:

Are you going sober for October? Alcohol can irritate the bladder, so reducing how much you drink may help you manage your MS bladder problems.

Around 75 per cent of people with MS experience bladder problems and these can have a big impact on your everyday life.

However, simple management strategies can really make a difference. Here are some top tips.

Source MS Trust:

How did you feel when you were diagnosed with MS? Angry? Scared? Perhaps even relieved? Whatever you felt, or are feeling now, it’s OK. There is no correct way to react to the news of diagnosis – being diagnosed with MS is a lot to take in. In this video, Anna talks candidly about the range of emotions she experienced after her MS diagnosis.  Read on.

Source Multiple Sclerosis News Today:

Disarm Therapeutics has completed the first round of financing to develop a compound that prevents axonal degeneration in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and other neurodegenerative conditions.

The treatment approach is based on an earlier discovery at Washington University in St. Louis, showing that the enzyme SARM1 is a key driver of axon degeneration, a process that causes disability and progression in several diseases of the central, ocular, and peripheral nervous systems.

The discovery was published in the journal Neuron in March 2017. Researchers had earlier known that SARM1 was involved in the degeneration process, but thought that another, so-far unidentified enzyme was needed to perform key steps.  Read on. 

Source MS Trust:

Cognition and cognitive symptoms

About half of all people with multiple sclerosis have some degree of problem at some time with aspects of thinking – memory, attention span, planning, decision making, understanding or concentration. Cognition is the term that covers all these aspects and these symptoms are referred to as cognitive problems. Cognitive issues can arise early in the course of the condition, but the longer you have had MS the more likely problems are to occur.

For most people the symptoms are relatively mild and can fluctuate from day to day, so initially you may not recognise them as an aspect of your MS and put them down to other reasons such as stress, overwork, tiredness or just getting older. Cognitive issues can be made worse by other symptoms such as fatigue, anxiety, depression, or even some medications.

The most common cognitive problems experienced by people with MS are poor memory and trouble concentrating, which they often describe as ‘brain fog’ or ‘fuzziness’. Research suggests that cognitive symptoms usually stay the same over several years, or only very gradually worsen, giving you time to develop strategies to compensate for any difficulties.  Read on.