What would you recommend for treating the fatigue quite often present with Multiple Sclerosis?
Fatigue is a significant problem faced by most patients with multiple sclerosis. Patients at times may not mention this to their doctor during their visit. This is because they either do not relate the fatigue to MS or attribute it to side-effect of medications or their disability. Patients can do simple things by themselves to alleviate some of this fatigue. Frequent short rests between physical exertion helps. Heat has been noted to make physical fatigue worse. So working in a slightly colder ambient temperature is helpful. There are medications which can alleviate some of the fatigue. These include amantadine and Modafinil. So if you experience fatigue, take to your doctor about it.
Why do you think it is that more women than men end up having this disease?
That is an interesting question and one for which we still do not know the answer. The answer though probably rests in the genes which predispose us to this disease. I would like to add that MS is seen in men and there is some data to show that when it does occur in men it is frequently more severe.
What does the future hold for the patients who have MS? Do you know of any promising medications or treatments coming down the pike?
I would like to end by giving hope to patients and care-givers alike. There is tremendous research being conducted in the field of MS. Researchers are trying to study what sets up this cascade of immune destruction in the brain in some people and not in others. What makes one patient have severe disease and another a much milder variant? New drugs are in the pipeline as well as work being done trying to better understand how current disease modifying drugs work. The future in MS research looks promising and I am hopeful that some day we can overcome this chronic disabling neurodegenerative disorder.
I would love to ask you so many more questions. I may save them for a subsequent interview if you are willing. So for now...Any last thoughts
Thank you for your questions. They were very thoughtful and I hope you find my answers equally insightful. I shall be happy to answer any more reader questions. I would like to end by thanking my patients and their families; they teach me something new very day and remind me why I entered this profession in the first place.
