Do you have a progressive form of MS and want to talk with other people who do, too?
The Blue Ridge Chapter, National MS Society is offering a progressive MS telephone self help group.
Topics of discussion will include: treatments, coping with disease progression, depression, and social and family support.
The next meeting will be September 23 at 3pm.
This self help group is appropriate for people with primary and secondary progressive MS, as well as those with advanced MS.
To participate, use the call-in and conference code numbers below.
Toll-free call-in number: 1-877-215-7429
Conference code number: 1780135
New Studies on Smoking and MS: Surprising Results?
New reports add to the growing evidence that smoking is bad for people with MS. Very bad. One study showed that MS disability progressed more quickly in smokers, and that quitting may delay MS progression (worsening). Another team found links between smoking and brain tissue damage observed on imaging scans. Yet a third study found the risk for developing MS increased with more years of smoking.
MS is not contagious or directly inherited, but scientists have identified “risk factors” that help determine whether a person will develop the disease. These factors include genes, gender, and ethnic background. The case has been mounting that smoking is one such risk factor – studies have suggested that cigarette smoking increases a person’s risk for developing MS, and have even hinted that smoking could contribute to disease progression.
Now, several teams have added fuel to the smoking fire:
Harvard researchers report results of a new study comparing 1465 smokers, ex-smokers and never-smokers, all of whom had MS.
After tracking the group for an average of over three years, the investigators found that MS disability progressed more quickly in smokers, and this difference was also noted in MRI measures of disease activity. For several measures, ex-smokers did not differ substantially from never-smokers, suggesting that quitting may delay MS progression.
A team in Buffalo, New York administered a questionnaire on smoking history and current smoking habits to 368 consecutive people with MS during the course of routine clinical follow-up visits, which showed that 240 had never smoked, and 128 were current or former smokers. The investigators compared participants’ imaging scans that measured disease activity and brain tissue atrophy (shrinkage), and the results were correlated with smoking history/habits and clinical characteristics of their disease. Smokers had greater amounts of tissue damage observed on imaging, a greater volume of tissue damage; and more brain atrophy.
A Swedish team looked at the incidence of MS tobacco smokers and the users of Swedish snuff (an oral form of snuff) in a sample of 902 people with MS and 1,855 people without the disease. Smokers had an increased risk of developing MS, and the risk increased with the cumulative amount of smoking. Interestingly, there was an apparent association between using snuff and decreased risk of MS. The authors suggest that this implies that nicotine (an ingredient of both) may not be the culprit for the clear increase in risk among cigarette smokers, but more research is needed to figure this out. One thing is certain about snuff, however: All oral tobacco can cause cancer and gum disease.
These studies add new information to the case against smoking for people with MS. If you have MS and would like more information about how to quit smoking, the National Institutes of Health provides resources: visit smokefree.gov or call 1-800-QUITNOW (1-800-784-8669).
- Courtesy National MS Society
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