With a bit of a delay, here is the good news in MS-world that found its way to the media in December 2013! Provincial MS strategy applauded Announced Nov. 25, Health Minister Fred Horne said the strategy – The Way Forward – “connects the dots” in the health care system so that Alberta’s almost 14,000 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients can access resources and find supports more easily. Teva and Takeda Announce Agreement for Glatiramer Acetate for Multiple Sclerosis Treatment in Japan Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE:TEVA) and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (Takeda) today announced the signing earlier this year of an agreement in which Teva licensed to Takeda the right to commercialize Teva’s innovative glatiramer acetate (active ingredient) formulation for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, in Japan. Teva and Takeda…

Thirty pieces of positive MS news published in November to brighten your day! Multiple sclerosis appears to originate in different part of brain than long believed Steven Schutzer, a physician and scientist at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, has now found an important clue why progress has been slow – it appears that most research on the origins of MS has focused on the wrong part of the brain.

Childhood Stress Not a Likely Trigger for MS Stressful life events in childhood did not appear to increase the subsequent risk for multiple sclerosis (MS), researchers said. In large Danish cohort study, children who experienced stressful life events had a weak 1.11-fold risk (95% CI 1.02-1.20) of later developing MS compared with unexposed children, according to Nete Munk Nielsen, MD, PhD, from Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen, and colleagues.

Just because multiple sclerosis too often has a negative undertone, here is some good news that was published online lately! Gene discovery! Gene discovery is major step towards finding cure for multiple sclerosis, researchers believe. Brand new helmet! Harding, the Minnesota Wild backup best known as the winner of the 2013 Masterton Trophy for his courageous fight against Multiple Sclerosis, has a history of working up some pretty sweet helmets with artist Todd Miska. Vitamin D: reverse or halt? In search of a better option for MS patients, a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison biochemists has discovered a promising vitamin D-based treatment that can halt — and even reverse — the course of the disease in a mouse model of MS.