Battling Multiple Sclerosis

By Jon Wegner

I would like to say first that I’m not a doctor so I don’t know all the technical words for what I describe in the following paragraphs. But I speak in layman’s terms that I think most people understand. I have secondary progressive multiple sclerosis and as I sit here I’ve been thinking what my life is going to be like in a year, five years and 10 years from now? I’m 49 years old and I suppose I’m getting set in my ways. My MS is only going to get worse. That’s not a very cheerful thought but I try to never feel sorry for myself. I was dealt this hand of cards and I have to deal with it the only way that I know how, with laughter and a never say die attitude! I was diagnosed in 1991 but now that I know what the symptoms of MS are I can easily trace it back to 1980 and maybe even earlier. It’s ironic but I managed health clubs in southern Minnesota from 1980 until May of 1987. It’s ironic because I used to be able to run a couple of miles per day and also bicycle 20 miles the same day. Now I can hardly get out of bed and when I do I’m reaching for my electric scooter or my walker.

The first symptom that I clearly remember is from 1980. Obviously, I didn’t know it was a symptom back then but I do now. I was working at a racquetball club in my hometown of Rochester, MN. I remember sitting in the whirlpool after work or working out and when I got out of the whirlpool I would feel strange. I thought I just didn’t like the hot water because the whirlpools were at least 105 degrees. I couldn’t explain the feelings then and I can’t explain them now but I just didn’t feel right! I was sort of lightheaded, a little dizzy, and sort of wobbly. Thinking back now I was at the clubs for almost 7 years and I bet I wasn’t in the whirlpools more than six times! I also remember having that feeling when I sat in the saunas or the tanning beds. Now I know that it was the beginning of my sensitivity to heat. When I think back I can’t believe that my MS was in my body just waiting to get out. I did a lot of activities in the 80’s that made me warm and I always drank extra beer and blew it off that I just didn’t like heat! Who would ever imagine that it was multiple sclerosis? I know I didn’t.

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By: James Hunt

Multiple Sclerosis, also known more simply as MS, is a chronic disease that affects the central nervous system. It has been found to affect more young adults during their most productive years. Doctors have found many factors that contribute to the onset of Multiple Sclerosis. These etiologies range from viral and autoimmune etiologies as well as genetic factors that are said to contribute to the disease. However, no specific cause of MS has been found.

MS is characterized by the presence of areas of demyelination and T-cell predominant perivascular inflammation in the brain white matter. The disease usually begins wit the presence of acute or sub acute neurological abnormalities. These abnormalities vary in severity from person to person. In some people they may take years to present themselves while in other people they appear at a rapid rate. Most usually last for years.

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By Groshan Fabiola

According to recently conducted experiments, cannabis can be considered an effective remedy for patients diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. While at first the symptomatic improvements experienced by patients with multiple sclerosis who have been administered cannabinoid products were thought to be determined solely by psychological factors, later research has revealed that cannabis actually reduces muscular spasms and stiffness characteristic to multiple sclerosis sufferers. The benefic effects of cannabis on patients with multiple sclerosis have been confirmed by short-term and long-term controlled medical studies.

In 2003, a team of researchers from the Peninsula Medical School in Exeter, UK have made public the results of a series of short-term and long-term studies on the effects of cannabinoids among patients with multiple sclerosis. The previously conducted studies involved the active participation of around 600 patients with advanced-stage multiple sclerosis. The participants were divided in two distinctive groups: the first group received cannabinoid compounds in equal doses, while the second group received placebo medications over a period of 15 weeks. By the end of the experiment, the majority of patients who were administered cannabinoids experienced considerable symptomatic improvements, having less muscular pain and being confronted with milder muscular spasticity (less pronounced muscular spasm). Unlike the group that received cannabinoid compounds over the entire period of the study, the control group (patients who received placebo medications) experienced no improvements in their overall condition.

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