Social Security disability claimants become eligible for Medicare on the 25th month after they first become eligible for a Social Security disability payment. For MS patients lacking access to regular review of prescribed medications, these delays may unnecessarily increase suffering and may dramatically increase the cost to the government when a claimant’s disease moves from a relapse-remitting stage to a progressive stage.
Medicare recently announced a breakthrough analysis of MS (Multiple Sclerosis) costs which showed that as the disease progresses, the care costs involved escalate dramatically. The research firm of JEN Associates and Wyeth conducted a study using a novel computer analysis to sort out MS patients by the stage that their disease was in, basing this on their Medicare payment records. The result of the study was that this led to a better understanding of MS treatment costs. The results of the study also indicated how well Medicare could reap more savings if effective treatment could block the advancements of the disease.
Consequently, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd. is funding a worldwide study involving 1,350 MS patients in order to determine how safe and effective the medication glatiramer acetate (Copaxone®) for the treatment of the disease. The standard dose of glatiramer acetate is 20mg but the study is testing a higher dosage of 40mg administered only 3 times per week instead of the daily dosage of the smaller amount. The study will last a year and has been named the “GALA” Study.Read more on Delays in Social Security Disability Decisions May Result in Higher Costs to Medicare…
Filed under Medical research, MS Treatment by on Jan 29th, 2011. 1 Comment. 
What if you could really know what was going on in your doctor’s head regarding your specific illness? What if you could find out what medications he or she really supported for your treatment and which ones he or she had reservations about? What if you could compare your treatment options with those of your peers who live with the same condition? Well, now you can have all of those answers at your fingertips without having to grill your doctor. BioTrends, a market research firm, has compiled responses from approximately one hundred neurologists about treatment options for multiple sclerosis, including pros and cons, patients who respond best and worst, and whether they expect to use particular products in the future. They also answered questions about certain products that are in the research stages and discussed which ones they believe have the most promise. This new report, detailing the neurologists’ answers, is called Treatment Trends: Multiple Sclerosis.
Read more on TreatmentTrends®: Multiple Sclerosis – A Comprehensive Report on MS Treatment…
Filed under MS Treatment by on May 26th, 2010. Comment.
There has been a lot in the news lately about statin drugs being used to treat high cholesterol in many individuals. They prevent cholesterol from being produced in the liver and also prevent cholesterol from entering the bloodstream. Some people believe that statins are being over prescribed, though, and that they do not really provide a great benefit to people. Still, others argue that they truly help with inflammation and prevent the cholesterol from rising and causing additional harm. But why are we discussing cholesterol drugs in a multiple sclerosis blog? Well, a new study has found that cholesterol drugs such as statins may not only help lower a person’s cholesterol, but may also be a helpful treatment option for multiple sclerosis.
Read more on Statin drugs may help reduce the incidence of brain lesions in MS patients…
Filed under Medical research, MS Treatment by on Apr 29th, 2010. Comment.
It is always exciting when a new medication is posed to come out on the market. There is a sense of hopefulness that this will be the treatment option that will work best for whatever condition ails you. What is even better and more exciting is when the drug is the first of its kind for a particular disease or illness. The newest medication to reach these ranks is drug maker Novartis’s oral medication for multiple sclerosis, Gilenia. This drug is the first of its kind for the treatment of multiple sclerosis and it is backed by a tremendous reduction rate for relapses of the disabling condition.
Read more on New Oral MS Drug Reduces Relapses Associated with the Condition…
Filed under Medical research, MS Treatment by on Apr 22nd, 2010. Comment.
One of the most difficult aspects of living with an autoimmune disease is figuring out what treatment option works best for a particular individual. With no cure, most people find themselves trying a variety of therapies to find one that works best. What is more is that sometimes a medication will be working well, and then it suddenly stops becoming as effective. Individuals suffering from multiple sclerosis, which is an autoimmune disease impacting millions of people around the world, also have to deal with occasional flare ups. These flare ups mean that the disorder could go into remission for a bit and then suddenly, and without warning, reappear. This makes it even more difficult to find out if a medication is actually working. In an effort to reduce these difficulties, researchers at Stanford University believe that it may be possible to predict which multiple sclerosis patients will respond favorably to a popular multiple sclerosis medication and which ones will not.
Filed under Living with MS, Medical research, MS Treatment by on Apr 16th, 2010. Comment.
You may have heard about the various games and tactics used to combat the early onset of Alzheimer’s disease and other memory loss disorders. People are often encouraged to constantly test their brains, whether it is through crossword puzzles, trivia games, or other mentally challenging activities. Now, there is an exciting way to train the brain that can improve cognition and memory in multiple sclerosis patients. CogniFit Personal Coach is a type of brain training software that provides a baseline assessment of cognitive abilities, which are most affected by aging. Then, it creates a personal training program for a specific end user, so that no two programs are exactly alike. It is based on neuro-cognitive research, and during a recent study, the program was shown to increase multiple sclerosis sufferers’ cognition and overall health.
Read more on New Software Designed for MS Sufferers to Help Improve Cognition and Memory…
Filed under MS Treatment by on Mar 19th, 2010. Comment.
It is always refreshing to see evidence of a traditional treatment option continuously improving the lives of those living with a chronic illness. Most of the time, we are reading about studies of what therapies may work and what new side effects or diseases a debilitating condition could later produce. This past month, however, the journal, Multiple Sclerosis, published data from a fifteen year clinical study of the drug, Copaxone. The drug, which is a glatiramer acetate injection, showed great promise in continuously reducing relapses and their frequency in multiple sclerosis patients. It is produced by Teva Pharmaceuticals, who funded this study, which was the longest and continuous examination of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients.
Read more on MS drug Copaxone successful in preventing MS relapses…
Filed under Medical research, MS Treatment by on Mar 5th, 2010. Comment.
Previously, we discussed a new MS drug (Ampyra) that improves the walking ability of those with multiple sclerosis and is set to be introduced in March of this year. It is the first drug of its kind that addresses a specific symptom of the condition. Now another drug is looking promising for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. The study of the drug, Cladribine, is being published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Filed under Medical research, MS Treatment by on Feb 6th, 2010. Comment.
