Hello friends --I'm on the tail end of COVID AND an MS flare - and it's still kicking my ass! I'm getting better and stronger, though so - FUMS!!  I hope you're doing well.  Here we are in December! 😳  Hold on to what you've got. Here come the holidays!!!So - what's happening in the world of MS??  Here you go:1.  I missed the Black Friday date to publish my 12th annual FUMS Holiday Gift Guide- thanks COVID and MS - but I have been working on something new: an Amazon storefront! It's pretty cool. It's products I and the FUMS community have found useful (and cozy and helpful and fun) over the years. Check it out here:  The FUMS Amazon Storefront  I'm continuing to add to it as my energy level allows - and as community members send me product recommendations - so keep checking back. Do you have something to recommend?? Just hit reply to this email. I'd LOVE to include it.  😉2.  This sounds promising: An injection of a type of stem cell into the brains of patients living with progressive MS is safe, well-tolerated, and has a long-lasting effect that appears to protect the brain from further damage, show initial results of clinical trial.  New stem cell therapy may help delay progression of multiple sclerosis3.  This one really pissed me off:  Selma Blair's doctor suggested she get a boyfriend instead of giving answers to undiagnosed MS pain   WHAT!?!!? 😳4.  Where are my Tysabri peeps??  Extending Tysabri (natalizumab) dosing intervals based on the drug’s blood levels was as effective at controlling disease activity in people with RRMS as the approved four-week dosing regimen. That’s according to results from NEXT-MS (NCT04225312), a Phase 4 clinical trial studying whether tailoring Tysabri’s dosing schedule to maintain blood levels above a certain threshold is as effective at reducing MS disease activity and disability progression as the standard dosing regimen.  Extending Tysabri dose intervals controls RRMS activity5.  Certain clinical attributes of disease-modifying therapies (DMTs), such as safety and the medication’s impact on risk of relapse and disability progression, are considered important by healthcare providers in selecting the appropriate treatment for people with MS, according to a new survey study.  However, a study experiment also found that logistical factors — including dosing frequency, time for dose adjustment, a medicine’s specific formulation, and even the volume of patient calls to the clinic — often are of similar importance for clinicians in choosing among DMTs for the MS patients under their care.  Providers weigh treatment logistics in selecting DMTs for MS patients6.  And once again from the No Shit Sherlock files: Adherence to Multiple Sclerosis Disease-Modifying Therapy Lowers Risk of Relapse, Severe Relapse   Anybody else feel like these research dollars could go a lot further if they weren't used to confirm what we already know?!?!?! 🤪Hey - do you enjoy this newsletter every week? Do you find it helpful? Well - maybe someone else would too. Please share the good news of FUMS with those folks in your life that could benefit - send them to www.FUMSnow.com/6pack to sign up. Are you in any online MS groups?? Share it there! I really appreciate the help spreading the word. Thanks! Warmly -- Kathy#FUMS P.S. Be sure to check out my friend Ardra Shephard's 2023 TRIPPING ON AIR ULTIMATE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE & GIVEAWAYS.  She even gives a little nod to FUMS in there!!P.S.S. Don't forget about the FUMS merch shop for your holiday shopping needs. Or just to give MS the finger on the daily!!  FUMS Shop 

Sometimes it helps the stress, just to say "F-U-M-S"