MS and Fatigue

As a MS blogger, I regularly receive notices of research, treatments, "cures", etc. When I see something worthwhile, something that may not be total BS, I pass it on:

For your blog, three recent studies have been published focused on the cognitive side of multiple sclerosis (MS).  Each study was published by researchers at Kessler Foundation (West Orange, N.J.) —studies that could eventually lead to cognitive therapies being approved for reimbursement by insurers.

Many know that physically, MS can cause muscle rigidity, pain and paralysis.  Lesser known are the cognitive effects -- including fatigue, trouble with memory and speech.

One Kessler Foundation study, funded by the National MS Society, found that people with MS performed worse on processing speed and memory tasks during warmer outdoor temperatures versus during cooler outdoor temperatures. 

The second study, also funded, in part, by the National MS Society, sheds light on cognitive fatigue in people with multiple sclerosis.  Cognitive fatigue is fatigue resulting from mental work rather than from physical labor. 

Meanwhile, the third study provides the first evidence for beneficial effects of aerobic exercise on brain and memory in people with MS.

Interested in learning more?  Please email me or call me at (856) 296-0741 to discuss.

Thanks,

Adam Dvorin

Winning Strategies PR

A small piece in a large puzzle, but may lead to something useful someday.

Book on MS

Here is another book on living with MS, but caution: the book is sponsored by a drug company. If anyone reads her story, let me know what you think:

An MS patient advocate named Kristie Salerno Kent has recently completed her memoir: Dreams: My Journey with Multiple Sclerosis. Her book, available free at www.DreamsTheEbook.com, is an inspirational example of the triumph of the human spirit and choosing to live life to the fullest after a diagnosis of MS. She is also now touring and singing at many MS- focused events around the country.

Dreams has been positively received by the MS community. As one reviewer wrote:

“Kent tells her story so candidly that you can’t help but to hope the end of ‘this’ part of her journey ends well and, when she shares the ups and downs, you admire her for her strength, nod in recognition of her denials and finally smile about her using her talent as an MS ambassador.” Examiner.com.

Trevis Gleason who has an MS blog on Everyday Health also reviewed her book and said:

“I found Kristie’s honesty about her search for explanation while simultaneously trying to avoid the much sought-after answers refreshing.  I too could relate to explaining away or ignoring until the disease would no longer be disregarded.“

Might you be interested in featuring a “guest post” from Kristie on your blog that details her experience with MS? You can also post excerpts from her book on your blog as well. And she is available to answer any questions via email.

Thanks very much for considering and have a great day,
Andrea

Andrea Coan

Berry & Company Public Relations, LLC

57 E 11th Street

6th Floor

New York, NY  10003

T: 212 253-8881     F: 212 253-8241

acoan@berrypr.com
www.berrypr.com

Diets for Autoimmune Diseases

I have not read this book, but offer it as something that might be of interest MSers:

As one of the over 50 million people in the U.S. burdened with auto-immune disease, Mee Tracy McCormick decided to fight back when this debilitating disease cost her all quality of life and left her near death. In her new book, My Kitchen Cure, she shares her amazing discoveries on the healing power of food! More than a cure for a personal ailment, this TV cooking personality has created a lifestyle that will help anyone suffering from any form of auto-immune disease.

Please read the following press release and let me know if I may schedule an enlightening interview with Mee, or if I may forward a copy of her book for a review. Thank you.

Gretchen Muro
615-557-5245
gretchenmuro@yahoo.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

My Kitchen Cure: Conquering Chronic Autoimmune Disease and Cancer with the Healing Power of Food

Nashville, TN, October 24, 2013 - In her newest book, My Kitchen Cure: How I Cooked My Way Out of Chronic Autoimmune Disease and Prevented Cancer with Whole Foods and Healing Recipes (MeeLee Publishing – June 2013), Mee Tracy McCormick chronicles her journey from near death to a vital, healthy woman with two children, husband and a career that includes going into communities and teaching what she learned about turning around a health crisis.
 
Her story starts with hereditary Crohn's disease, an intestinal ulceration, a diagnosis of cancer waiting to be confirmed, and debilitating daily pain that knocked her down and left her teetering at a painfully thin 96 pounds. Medical tests, treatments and medicines that threatened to kill her before they cured her had backed Mee into a health crisis corner.

Not knowing how to proceed or even how to cook, Mee took it upon herself to transform her kitchen into her personal healing "laboratory.” She didn't know it then, but she understands now that by learning about the healing power of food, she was creating something bigger than a cure for a personal ailment. She was creating a lifestyle… a new way of being… a movement…. A REAL FOOD LIFE that could benefit everyone and, most notably, the 55 million people in the United States alone who suffer from an auto-immune disease, of which Crohn's Disease is one.

More than just "preaching” about this REAL FOOD LIFE, Mee has taken it upon herself to teach what she knows in public schools to private homes. She has set up Real Food Makeover Community Kitchens in Nashville and Los Angeles, sometimes working with card tables and butane burners, cooking with small groups or upwards of 150 people at a time. More importantly, she includes the less privileged in her mission.

"I know now that going through such challenging health issues that I still have to pay attention to, that there was something more I needed to do,” says Mee Tracy McCormick. "And, when I hear someone say that they were able to cut down on their diabetes medication or how they lost 40 pounds by just giving up foods that come in a box or can, it makes my heart sing.”

Written in three parts, My Kitchen Cure recounts:

•    The Who: Raised in Appalachia on a diet of chipped ham and ketchup sandwiches by a single mom who died young of hereditary Crohn's Disease; suffered herself for 10 years or more from debilitating abdominal pain and weight loss; married and started a family, but almost lost one daughter in pregnancy due to complications caused by her condition; eventually found herself doubled up in pain on the floor for 48 hours alone with her two young girls in the Mexican jungle; moved with her husband and family back to their ranch in Tennessee to get medical help; made the rounds to doctor after doctor whose solutions entailed dangerously invasive tests and mounds of daily drugs; finally found her answer in her kitchen; then created The Real Food Makeovers, going into her Nashville Community and shifting food deserts to food oases.
•    The What and Why: Part two covers topics like, "What is autoimmune disease,” ”Everything you need to know about sugar,” "Dairy, to eat it or not eat it,” What's real & what's fake in the food world,” and "Feeding our kids real food every day,” to name a few.
•    The How: The kitchen staples and equipment that a REAL FOOD kitchen should stock, along with 162 pages of recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, and everything in between.

Mee Tracy McCormick is a Real Food and Autoimmune Cooking Expert, TV cooking personality, a Food Makeover Consultant, a Community Food Advocate and the author of My Kitchen Cure: How I cooked My Way Out of Chronic Autoimmune Disease and Prevented Cancer with Whole Foods and Healing Recipes.

For more information on Mee, her REAL FOOD LIFE, her REAL FOOD MAKEOVERS and her book, visit www.MeeTracy.com. Her book is currently available on amazon.com where it is fast being lauded as the go-to book for autoimmune disease.

###

UPCOMING EVENTS

Community Kitchen Event featuring Mee Tracy McCormick
Music Row
Integrative Life Center
1104 16th Avenue South
Nashville, TN  37212
Saturday, Nov. 23, 2013 – 3-5 p.m.

McCormick will be hosting a community kitchen, where more than 100 people will learn to use whole foods in their daily cooking to support wellness.  


TIP SHEET:

Joan Borysenko, PH.D: "Mee is devoted to you, which is what this book is all about. You will read about devotion in action – how she goes into people's homes, listens to their stories, cleans out their cabinets, creates a healing kitchen, takes them shopping, and teaches them how to cook. The best part is that they heal. Mee is healing whole communities through her outreach to schools, churches, and well, all of us, through televised cooking lessons that are so delightful you'll want to run right out and round up the ingredients. Enjoy. Heal, and go out and spread the word!”

Carolyn Coker Ross, M.D: "Mee has written a book with heart and soul that takes us through the colorful pages of her adventurous life. The book shines a light on the pain and suffering she endured for years from her undiagnosed and poorly treated digestive disorder. This pain led her on a search for answers…[Book] is remarkable for its honesty and how it showcases her own strong, resilient personality…also remarkable because it shows that the path to TRUE healing doesn't start and end at your doctor's office or with a prescription. True healing happens when we listen to the still small voice in our hearts that leads us to our own personal path to healing, even when it deviates from what may be considered the norm or takes us to places that challenge us to look outside of conventional authorities on healing. Mee's journey to healing is fun to read about and chock full of useful information that will help many who read her book.”

Christiane Northrup, M.D., ob/gyn physician and author of the New York Times bestsellers: Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom and The Wisdom of Menopause: "My Kitchen Cure is chock full of user-friendly, health-enhancing information. I highly recommend it.”

A Month of Pain

Just over a month ago, I started having a pain in my left hip whenever walking or even just turning over in bed. At first I didn't think much about it, since my poor walking puts a lot of stress on that left hip and lower back, but now this new pain was making the walking worse and also causing me to fall: a shot of pain would make it suddenly impossible to put any weight on my left leg and down I'd go.  However, after a week of excruciating pain, I got into the Doc's office for a diagnosis and treatment.  The diagnosis was bursitis and the treatment was a shot of cortisone.  The cortisone worked fairly quickly: most of the pain was gone in about 5 days.  However, I was left with a continuing pain in my upper left glute and left quads, especially apparent when walking, standing, or turning over in bed. My physiotherapist and doc say those are probably muscle strains made worse while I had the bursitis, and that letting them heal is the best thing to do. In the meantime, the ongoing pain seems to be making me feel tired all the time: I can't fall sleep well at night, but take naps during the day are a respite from the pain/discomfort.

The upshot of all this is that I haven't gone swimming for over a month (worried about both getting into the pool safely, then be able to do the crawl properly given my glute/groin pains).  I've only biked a few times because I'm usually just too tired to be interested in going biking. I'm only now getting back to my physio, pilates and yoga routines.

A month of significantly reduced quality of life. I sure hope I can get back into my full regular exercise regime again soon.

Anne Kingston, CCSVI and MS

Here is another great article from Anne Kingston:http://www2.macleans.ca/2013/09/24/time-to-liberate-liberation-therapy-from-ms-3/.  There is also a Facebook link to all of her articles on the subject:https://www.facebook.com/notes/ccsvi-ivcc/anne-kingston-of-macleans-magazine-articles-on-ms-and-ccsvi/415901201807268. I'm going to make sure I have that bookmarked, because it's a great source of information, tracking the evolution in thinking about CCSVI.

Getting older and MS

Another good blog post from Mitch: http://www.enjoyingtheride.com/.  

On the Cannabis - Part 2

I've been on nabilone for over a month, and I'm quite sure that is really helping my sciatica (and perhaps other neuro pains). I saw the difference in a couple of weeks, but waited until now to make sure that it wasn't just coincidence that my sciatic pain has greatly decreased.  However, it's been over a month: I haven't this long of a respite from the pain in years, so I'm quite sure it's the nabilone that's doing it.  So far no side effects except, perhaps, some increased lethargy. Wonder what some real weed would do?

Physio, Pilates, Yoga, Swimming and Biking

A very focused physio regime along with a specially-designed Pilates program seem to be slowly paying dividends with respect to strengthening some of my muscles that are very weak, particularily in my left leg. It's good to have health service providers that really want to make things better for me now even though the long-term prognosis is for more deterioration.

On the Cannabis

I've started using a precribed synthetic cannabinoid called nabilone to try to help me with my chronic pain, particularily my sciatica.  I'm on the second week of a three-week ramp-up period for the drug. My sciatica has been better lately, but its hard to say if the drug had anything to do with it since it varies day-to-day anyway. It would nice to have something for chronic pain that doesn't have bad side effects or sap all my energy.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Cognitive Benchmark

Today I got the results for the set of cognitive tests I took about a month ago. I passed (hehehe). In any case, comparing these results to the results of the same tests done 3 1/2 years ago (just before my "liberation"), none of my measures (memory, cognitive performance, etc) had deteriorated.  So my left-side weakness is getting worse, but my brain hasn't changed.