September 25, 2024

Today's FUMS 6-Pack is brought to you by: Multiple Sclerosis. Without it - there'd be no need for this newsletter.Thanks, MS. 😉

Hey - THANK YOU!! Wow 🤯. Ya'll really understood the assignment! In last week's 6-Pack, I asked if you would kindly subscribe to the FUMS YouTube channel and boy oh boy did you come through!! The first day, 30 of you subscribed! I really appreciate that. I just need 680 more subscribers for YouTube to monetize my channel. If you didn't get a chance to sign up last week, I'd sure appreciate it if you'd take a minute - more like 30 seconds, tops - to subscribe - right here: FUMS YouTube. Thanks in advance.In other news - I'm heading over to my local Walgreen's this afternoon to get the latest COVID vax and this year's flu shot. Most of the time - I'm just fine. But every once in awhile - these shots kick my ass so -I have to plan for some downtime. AND - I'm getting my Briumvi infusion in a couple of weeks and my neurologist wanted me to get these vaccines before that infusion so - off I go. How about YOU??  Are you getting the latest COVID vax? Do you get the flu shot each year?? Hit reply and let me know, please. I love hearing from you - and - I'd love to get a bead on how this community views those vaccines. Thanks. OK - let's get after it!1.  As predicted in last week's edition of the 6-Pack - there is a lot coming out of ECTRIMS (European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis). Here we go: "Taking high-dose cholecalciferol (vitamin D) as a supplement is safe and can nearly double the time it takes for people with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS), a first manifestation of neurological symptoms suggestive of multiple sclerosis (MS), to experience new disease activity." Interesting findings. However, there were "no differences from the placebo were observed for relapses. The supplements also didn’t significantly affect measures of disability, cognition, quality of life, fatigue, anxiety, and depression." ECTRIMS 2024: High-dose vitamin D can help delay progression to MS2.  Daily treatment with high-dose simvastatin, a widely used cholesterol-lowering medication, failed to slow disability progression in adults with secondary progressive disease or SPMS, according to top-line data from a Phase 3 clinical study. ECTRIMS 2024: Simvastatin fails to slow disability progression in SPMS3.  Sanofi’s tolebrutinib significantly delayed disability progression, by 31%, and increased the rates of disability improvement compared with a placebo in people with nonrelapsing secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS), according to new data from the HERCULES Phase 3 clinical trial.  I posted about this several weeks ago, but this is a more in-depth look at this study: ECTRIMS 2024: Tolebrutinib may target smoldering inflammation

🐝 Are you looking for a place where you can talk to people 24/7 who really understand what life with MS is like - because they all have it too? How about somewhere there is a Live Chat Monday - Thursday at 4 pm EST - led by - yours truly!! 😉  Well then - take yourself right here: Bezzy MS - or download the app on your phone and get signed up there. We'll be waiting to welcome you into this amazingly supportive community. *I'll see you in there! 🐝

4. Happy Fall Y'all!! 🍁 It's cooling down in Virginia Beach. I think the green of the leaves is more of a chartreuse now. Surely the reds, yellows and oranges can't be too far behind. And I love Sweata Weatha (click the link - it'll make more sense - and give you a giggle). HOWEVER - the change of seasons can really kick some MS ass. When that barometer drops - everything on my body revolts. Does that happen to you too?? Clearly - I'm not alone: The Effect of Seasonal Changes on Multiple Sclerosis  And don't even get me started on what daytime savings time does to me . . . 5.  Do you deal with difficulty speaking? Maybe it's just certain words that your tongue seems to get "tied up" on (this is one of my fun issues). Well - you're not alone. A lot of MS'ers deal with this lovely symptom. It's even got a name that would challenge the most eloquent, non-MS-having somebodies: Dysarthria: When MS Makes It Hard to Speak6.  During this week's research, I came across a whole new issue that can be cause by MS. YAY!! 🥳 What an over-achiever that little bastard is. "Volvulus is a condition that occurs when your bowel (which makes up your small intestine, colon, and rectum) twists around itself, causing a bowel blockage. This twist can block blood flow to the bowel, leading to severe damage if not treated quickly."  Ummm - I'm sorry, what now??  Yep. MS can cause this. So - here's the deets on what to watch for: What To Know About VolvulusThat's all folks. Let me know if you have any questions or if I can help you in any way. Otherwise, just keep saying FUMS!! 🧡Cheers -- KathyKathy Reagan YoungFounderFUMS

Sometimes it helps the stress, just to say F-U-M-SPLEASE share this newsletter 👇🏻

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