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Australian researchers have found pain experiences and management techniques change over time in a longitudinal study of people with MS.

Pain is a common symptom of MS and can be due to the inflammation related to the MS disease process or complications arising from the disease. In a recent study by A/Prof Fary Khan from Melbourne, 94 people with MS were followed over seven years to assess pain experiences and management techniques.

A/Prof Kahn is the Director of the Rehabilitation Medicine Department at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and received the MSRA Ian Ballard Travel Fellowship to facilitate her international research collaborations in 2010.

A new study using the Ausimmune cohort has investigated lifestyle habits as risk factors of first demyelinating events, the precursor to MS.

A new Australian study using the Ausimmune cohort has investigated lifestyle habits and blood pressure as risk factors of first clinical demyelinating events – the precursor episode to a definite diagnosis of MS. The Ausimmune study has been running since 2003 with foundation funding from MSRA and the USA National MS Society and has examined a large number of environmental factors and how they might affect risk.

I have finally made it to my first city based Farmers Market and it's held only about 500 metres away from my home, it's only held once a month, but considering the area that I used to live never held a Farmers Market in the ten years I lived there, once a month is a wonderful occurrence and will do me just fine!

I wasn't really prepared as I only happened to see the banner at a local reserve a few days before the day coming back from the local IGA supermarket where I can buy Kale and a few other needed things if I'm short, like butter etc. I usually buy most of my food online and before saw the farmers market banner I had already placed my order for the week. As my mode of transport is now a mobility scooter, I also hadn't organised the appropriate carry bag, the little front basket that comes with most scooters just doesn't cut it, so I will need to look into that for future markets.

I arrived on the scoot about 15 minutes before the official opening time, so I didn't get a true feel of what the market would be like buzzing with people, not all the stalls were fully set up yet either, my fault for getting there to early. I prefer it when less people are around, I get sick of the gawking from some fools while I ride the scoot, as I said I didn't really need much but thought I shouldn't pass up the chance to at least do my bit to support the market which was held at a local reserve just down the street from me.

The first stall was a plant nursery, I have been wanting to get a grevillea for the front area of my unit to be planted as a screening plant, possibly two, a couple "Robyn Gordon" grevilleas would do fine, the fellow didn't bring any grevilleas with him this time so he said he would bring some to the next market in a month, that should be fine I'm not in any rush. The next stall was a guy selling Goat meat products, now I have tried quite a few different meats from different animals, I regularly eat Kangaroo, I have tried Crocodile, Buffalo, Camel and of course all the regulars, Lamb, Beef, Pork and of course Fish (I mainly eat Salmon for it's health properties). I'd never tried Goat though, so I took the opportunity to try some, I thought it best to start of with something I knew there was a good chance of liking, Goat Meat sausages and of course I got the rosemary and garlic variety.

The sausages were up there with the best I have had and I do like a good snag, always great when camping and great to have with any meal, we would often stop off at local butchers at the last town on the way to our campsite and support the locals and it would mean it as the freshest it could be, before heading into the bush for a week or so and ice in the esky only lasts so long. I also bought a nice fresh Cauliflower as well, usually I just buy frozen Cauliflower so I don't waste it, the one I bought was small just perfect for a single person and looked to be very fresh just picked and reasonably priced. so although I didn't buy much I will be prepared next time and purchase a lot more, can't wait for the next one :)

The name of the business that made the sausages is "Seven Hills" in Tallarook just up the Hume Highway a bit, great little town Tallarook, I will include a link to their web site below

Seven Hills, Tallarook
The Paddock to Plate Experience
Click here to go to Seven Hills Tallarook Home Page

I'll also add the Farmers Market organisers web site as well so you can see if there is a Market happening near you!

Regional Farmers Markets
This is the one I went to on the 2013-06-08
Click here to go to Regional Farmers Markets Home Page

There is another mob that runs Farmers Markets, so when/if I get to visit that one I'll write a bit of a review on that one as well, all in all this one was great and I will be visiting it in the future for sure!

Disgusting story about a lady who suffers from Multiple Sclerosis who can't get a disability ramp installed, even though she is willing to pay for it herself. Please share this one to your stream, I never ask that, but it would show others about these pricks!

US researchers have successfully completed a small safety trial of a new experimental treatment for MS which attempts to re-train the immune system.

In a study published this week in the journal Science Translational Medicine, researchers from Northwestern University have had promising results using a new treatment for people with MS.

Australian researchers have used an online survey to investigate the association of fish and omega 3 consumption with disease activity and quality of life in people with MS

Dr George Jelinek and colleagues at the St Vincent’s Hospital Emergency Practice Innovation Centre, Melbourne, have conducted a large study of dietary and lifestyle factors in people with MS to investigate the potential effects of fish consumption and omega 3 fatty acid consumption on disease activity and quality of life in people with MS.

The results have been published in the International Journal of Neuroscience (view the abstract here).

An anonymous online survey is being launched to gather information about spasticity treatment needs for people with MS and their carers.

Spasticity is a potentially disabling symptom for people with MS, and is estimated to be a significant problem for up to 80% of patients (1). Spasticity can cause spasms, walking problems and sleep problems as well as affecting personal activities of daily living (1).

Today in the mail my Disabled Parking Permit arrived. They approved a category 2 permit which allows me extra time so means I can park closer and take longer if needed instead of feeling like I need to rush. Which to be honest is impossible to do on days when my spasticity is in full swing or I am fatigued. When I opened the letter with my new permit I was met with so unexpected emotion. Amber Aireyhttps://plus.google.com/113561197150607724891noreply@blogger.com0

New research shows that brain atrophy occurs within the first year after a first attack and predicts conversion to clinically definite MS.

Spanish researchers have investigated the short-term development of tissue-specific and global brain atrophy (brain volume loss) in people with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS).

The research was published in Multiple Sclerosis Journal (read the abstract).

In this issue of Next, we highlight some of the research projects being funded by MSRA and farewell our founding CEO as he heads into retirement.

To view the articles in Next 31, please click on the link below

Here's something very interesting from my point of view and I'm sure  it may at least interest some others. I'm very interested because I was talking to another MSer +Stephen Walton via phone call the other day, we're two old tradies (mechanical, carpentry etc. jack of all trades type of guys) so we have a lot in common. Steve has MS and obviously so do I.

Anyway we got on to the subject of the various jobs we have had over the years, the one that got us thinking was that we both did some gardening type jobs where we had used "Glyphosate" or "Roundup" as it's widely known, though it is marketed under many brands and names. Monsanto make "Roundup". Immediately before I had my first MS exacerbation I had been spraying "Roundup" heavily destroying weeds and basically any living plant life, we were almost drinking the crap we were using it so heavily. This is just before I had my first MS incident and it was the same for Steve.

Just now Steve sent me something very interesting, please have a read, it's not that big text wise.
http://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/15/4/1416
Full PDF of research 48 pages
http://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/15/4/1416/pdf
I got that first link above from this page that Steve sent me
http://action.responsibletechnology.org/p/salsa/web/common/public/content?content_item_KEY=11129
Which also has this video in that link, plus many other vids that talk about possible links to glyphosate and diseases and health issues
GMO MS Leaky Gut! <<< Video

Now I'm no scientist or medico, but it has definitely made me take notice, and yes I also run a G+ "Page" called "March against Monsanto" Melbourne, Australia. Just to be honest and to let you know I do despise Monsanto.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/104917322213031354693/104917322213031354693/posts
All that has really done though is make me aware of how evil they are, so I'm interested in what they and their GMOs and Chemicals do to us humans.

I have heard about "leaky gut" (you'll see that talked about in the video above) before as a possible cause for MS and many other diseases and problems, but I admit I had fobbed it off, as I don't remember seeing it directly associated with "Glyphosate" so I guess I couldn't see a correlation with my MS, but the first link and 48 page PDF may suggest otherwise and it's science, maybe our western diet is in fact killing us. 
Here's just a random page I found about "leaky gut" and how to hopefully fix it, but do a google search for more information :)
http://scdlifestyle.com/2010/03/the-scd-diet-and-leaky-gut-syndrome/

Now remember, glyphosate-roundup is everywhere, on our food in our sheds and Genetically Modified Organisms, especially Corn, Soybeans, Canola and Cotton and many other GMOs. So I'm just putting this out there, I am not going to harp on about it, but have a look if you're interested and see what you think for yourselves, otherwise just call it the ramblings of a crazy man, I am very interested though if anyone else has any further information or correlations or exposure that they know of and yes I still haven't read the 48 page PDF linked to above, I've only skimmed it so far :)

Of course I'm not positive about any of the above (except my own experiences), but it has got me thinking!  

MS treatments, Aubagio (teriflunomide) and Tecfidera (BG-12), and spasticity treatment, Sativex, under PBAC review at July meeting. Comments invited.

The Pharmaceutical Benefit Advisory Committee (PBAC) will consider three new MS medications for listing on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme at their meeting in July. The PBAC is responsible for recommending to the government whether new drugs should be listed for reimbursement on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

I'm back on the Paleo Diet, it's been about 2-3 weeks now, the reasons for going off it have been discussed before, so I won't go over that again, though one thing that frustrated me about the diet was the actual cooking and the subsequent clean up of dishes, nope, don't have a dishwasher (don't particularly want one either), I'm the dishwasher, I'm the one who has to do the scrubbing. Cooking, well, as I have Multiple Sclerosis standing over a hot stove too long eg. the time it takes to cook said food can leave me with shaking legs, I can't stand still for long periods of time. If it's difficult. these days I find it really difficult to stay positive and I'll just go for the easy option which is usually take away food or processed crap in a box.

This time I have come prepared with some tools that make things much easier for me to prepare Paleo goodness, enter "The Breville fast slow cooker", it's a slow cooker and pressure cooker combined, a bit more expensive than a slow cooker only, but I've always wanted a pressure cooker for it's energy efficiency and speed when cooking, it was the perfect appliance for me, with either function you do not need to stand over and watch food cook, tick! I have never owned a slow cooker although, my mother did have an electric crock pot years and years ago, it's exactly the same as a slow cooker as I have since found realised lol.

The humble hard boiled eggs are just the best snack that is also Paleo approved, now, remember I'm a single male, I can boil water, but I could never seem to get boiled eggs right, they would always have the green tinge or be too soft or over cooked, waiting that six minutes or whatever the perfect time is was like six months for this single male MSer, I know, don't worry, I already feel like a fool lol. So there had to be a better way and guess what, there is, I found the right tool that is absolutely wonderful and simple to use, I don't need to watch the eggs while they come to boil so as to take them out at that exact time, although I do need to be within earshot, which in all honesty could be about 500 metres away, it has a really loud buzzer when finished, which is great for me because it makes me actually get up off my fat arse and turn the machine off, lest I burn the place down.

I found "Breville Egg Creations" a dinky little egg boiler, except it cooks with steam, heaven for me, it is so damn simple, uses about 40/ml of water to hard boil seven "cackleberrys" at once, how long does it take, never timed it, but it doesn't seem much different to doing it the old water and saucepan way. Now I get two dozen eggs and boil them all straight away, ready to snack on as needed. Whack them in the fridge. The vessel that comes with it to measure the right amount of water to use also has like a pin in the base to pierce the wider end of the egg anyway that's all in the instructions!

These two appliances have made what I considered difficult, time consuming and tiring to now be a pleasure because they make my life so much easier when preparing meals that someone on a Paleo Diet, needs to do quite a bit of, that is cook food and lots of it. Both products are simple to clean, seriously they are, I wouldn't lie about something I despise doing lol. I am also now on the search for the best vegetable grater, I bake a decent Pumpkin bread these days and grating the pumpkin, the second main ingredient, really grates on my patience....

Next up I might talk about some recipes, but it will just be links to sites where I found the details, I won't be ripping off other peoples hard work and passing it off as my own, I might give the ingredients though so people can fight about whether it's Paleo or not :).

Oh I need to make it clear I have no affiliation with Breville, although I would accept a donation from them if they care to give me one, I do think they make decent products though, that's why I bought them!

My desire to spend my time writing has been foiled again! Just as I decided to take a break from my blog posts the universe decided to throw me a challenging three months. My three months has been mixed with yet more pelvic pain, colds, infections added to the Multiple Sclerosis and Fibromyalgia. There has been a lot of resting, literally sitting and doing nothing, sleeping every chance Amber Aireyhttps://plus.google.com/113561197150607724891noreply@blogger.com0

Research into MS prevention and treatment will receive a boost, with the Australian Government to invest a further $1 million to assist MSRA to continue its world class research over the next 4 years.

Research into multiple sclerosis (MS) prevention and treatment will receive a boost, with the Australian Government to invest a further $1 million to assist Multiple Sclerosis Research Australia (MSRA) to continue its world class research over the next 4 years.

'Every year around 1,000 Australians, mostly in their twenties to forties and disproportionately women, are diagnosed with MS,' the Health Minister Hon Tanya Plibersek MP said today.

Recovering from Multiple Sclerosis Real life stories of hope and inspirationGeorge Jelinek and Karen Law
This latest book is the third of Professor George Jelinek's books, dealing with diet, exercise, meditation and a positive outlook on life as a way to take control of your Multiple Sclerosis symptoms, there are twelve stories of real people that have have been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and have followed the advice from Dr. Jelinek's two previous books the first being "Taking control of Multiple Sclerosis" and the second, Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis (Google Play Books).

If you're looking for some motivation and inspiration and are willing to follow the advice given to manage your Multiple Sclerosis, look no further, the stories give real hope that just changing your lifestyle can make a real a difference to the MS journey you're now faced with, all of the stories are personal experiences of following the diet and lifestyle changes outlined in  the "Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis" book.

A few of the people in the book reported that some of their lesions appeared to have shrunk or disappeared on subsequent MRIs after being on this program, understand though that this not a quick fix or silver bullet, this is a total lifestyle change that you will need to stick to without deviation over many years for best results, it's a total lifestyle change! It appears that most of the people in the stories are living normal and active lives apart from some minor MS symptoms from the nerve damage from previous exacerbations and relapses.

Eating healthier and making lifestyle changes can never be a bad thing, why not give it a go!

I was given a free copy of this book to review by Allen and Unwin, click > Recovering from Multiple Sclerosis to buy the paperback. This is an honest review and was not part of any deal to get a free copy of the book.

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Just for your information Dr. Jelinek also has a web site called Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis where you can find all the information needed to follow his program for coping with MS, the "Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis" book is often given away freely and at the moment if you live in Australia or New Zealand you can get a free copy, you only have to pay for postage here are the details for the free copy.

Below is a Youtube video by Dr. Jelinek
Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis - Dr George Jelinek
Professor George Jelinek is an academic emergency physician. His experience with his mother's death from MS, and his own diagnosis in 1999, lend an urgency and compassion to this meticulous work which offers a new approach and new hope for sufferers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPYLKZG6Bt0

On a personal note, I'm not following this program as I am purely trying to lose weight at this stage by following the Paleo Diet which also has the added bonus of helping with my MS symptoms, if that goes well, I think I will give Dr. Jelinek's program a try, if I can stick to Paleo I should have little problem following "Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis" well it should be a lot easier anyway :)

A 16 year follow-up of patients from the original interferon-beta-1b clinical trial shows that those who received interferon early do better on measures of memory.

Declines in cognitive function are a relatively common feature in MS and have a significant impact on the social, emotional and family life of people with MS. Cognitive changes have also been shown to be one of the most significant factors affecting employment for many people with MS.

American scientists have achieved a breakthrough in human stem cell science by successfully using a ‘therapeutic cloning’ technique to generate human stem cells.

Despite success in other mammals the use of somatic cell nuclear transfer - ‘therapeutic cloning’ - to generate human stem cells has proved problematic. American scientists have now developed a technique to overcome the barriers and have successfully derived human stem cells from cloned human embryos.

The research was published in the top scientific journal Cell this week.

A NSW Upper House Inquiry has recommended changes to the law to allow medical use of cannabis and affordable access to pharmaceutical cannabis-based medications

A NSW Upper House General Purpose Standing Committee report on the inquiry into The use of cannabis for medical purposes was released on 15 May.

The Committee has made recommendations for changes in the State’s Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act to enable possession of small amounts of crude cannabis product for medicinal purposes.

The Committee also recommended that the NSW Government acts to encourage the Federal Government to facilitate affordable access to pharmaceutical cannabis-based products.

Recently published international research again highlights fatigue and cognitive symptoms rather than workplace discrimination are linked to lower levels of employment in people with MS.

Several international studies and previous research by the MSRA-funded MS Longitudinal Study have highlighted the much higher rate of unemployment in people with MS.

This month, three additional studies published in the journal Multiple Sclerosis by British, German and American research groups, further emphasise the extent and possible causes of the problem.