I'll admit, I found it a little weird to see this all over the news of the multiple sclerosis world. I kind of thought we already pretty much knew that marijuana helped with certain MS symptoms.

I guess the big news here is that this was a well-run, rigorous (albeit small) study. In this study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, researchers used a crossover design - 30 people smoked either a marijuana cigarette (joint) or a placebo (that looked, tasted and smelled just like the real deal, but lacked active ingredients) once a day for 3 days in a row. Then they switched to the other (marijuana or placebo) for 3 days. It should be noted that these 30 participants were people who had MS-related spasticity and had failed to respond to other treatments.

Here is what researchers found:

• Participants saw a 30 percent improvement in measures of spasticity after smoking the marijuana, but not after the placebo.
• Smoking marijuana significantly reduced pain scores (by 5.28 points on a visual analog scale) over placebo.
• Smoking the marijuana caused fatigue and dizziness and slowed down cognitive function soon after smoking.

In reading some of the articles written about the study, I noticed that people seemed very concerned about the side effects of marijuana. I understand that. People with MS have plenty of fatigue and cognitive stuff going on and no one seems to know if the effects of marijuana are long-term. It would be great to see a formulation that contained THC, but had none of the side effects, especially if this would make it easier and more palatable for docs to prescribe.

However, plenty of the drugs that we take for symptoms have crappy side effects, as do some of the disease-modifying therapies. If people with MS don't mind some (more) fatigue and cognitive dysfunction to relieve spasticity, which can be debilitating and painful, they should have a choice to use marijuana. If feeling a little high helps relieve some of their other symptoms, not to mention make the whole MS journey a little easier for a short time, that is a benefit, as well.

I do understand that the establishment has not formally documented the long-term effects of smoking pot on cognition. Studies have looked at "chronic cannabis users" and found that there may be some effect on brain function. While this is clearly an undesirable side effect, people who are suffering from spasticity should be able to make a choice whether they want to take this risk or not. After all, one need only check out the side effect profile for some of the commonly-prescribed anti-spasticity meds to see that these can be "dirty"drugs as well, in terms of side effects. (As a reminder, the participants in this trial had spasticity which failed to respond to these drugs.)

About 4 years ago, in 2008, I wrote this blog: Can I donate blood if I have multiple sclerosis?

I felt that I was a little late in writing it, as the blood donor eligibility guidelines were updated and released a year earlier, in 2007. These guidelines eliminated MS as a factor which excluded people from being able to donate blood. To state this differently, people with MS could now donate blood. The closest that the guidelines come to discussing MS is under the heading of "Chronic Illnesses," where it is stated: "Most chronic illnesses are acceptable as long as you feel well, the condition is under control, and you meet all other eligibility requirements."

In case you are wondering, people taking any of the disease-modifying therapies can also donate blood.

Since I wrote the original article, I have gotten many emails from people saying that they were rejected as a blood donor, simply because they had MS.

I'm curious - is this still happening? Has this happened to you? What exactly were you told? How did you react?

Share your story in the comment section below.

I was prepared to really hate this piece about Ann Romney's multiple sclerosis (MS), preparing myself for words like "suffer" and "victim" to be sprinkled throughout the video (after all, this was on Entertainment Tonight). Sure enough, there was suspenseful music and large graphic letters filling the screen, reading "MS ATTACK," preceding the segment where Ann Romney spoke about some increased MS symptoms during the Super Tuesday primaries.

However, after overlooking some of the production aspects of the video, I found that I really, really like Ann Romney. She seemed warm and genuine. I related to her quote: "For people that have MS, there are certain rules that we've got to follow. One is go to bed on time, don't have stress in your life, eat balanced meals every day and, of course, being on the campaign trail none of those things work." Indeed, how many of us with much more "normal" lives can really do these things - even one of them? I cannot imagine what her life has been life these past months. I cannot imagine what her life will be like if her husband is elected president.

I'd love to hear from you about Ann and her portrayal of MS. If you can, put your political beliefs aside and take a good look at this woman who is living with MS. She may just turn into "the face of MS" for the entire country, after all.

Read the article, watch the video and decide for yourself: Ann Romney's Multiple Sclerosis: Will It Limit Her Role In Mitt's Campaign?

I know that I am not alone when I say that MS has stolen a great deal from me. I miss lots of stuff because I am tired or am feeling "MSy" in some other way. I also know that I am among the people with MS who have cognitive dysfunction. My brain just doesn't work like it used to. This makes reading books with complicated plots or watching some movies a little more challenging.

As discouraging as this can be at times, I keep with it. I try to push myself to appreciate things that are not necessarily "easy." Don't get me wrong, there are still shows on TV and novels that I enjoy that are not high culture, but I do try to blend in things that make me think.

I encourage you to do the same. I have put together some ideas on things that will open up the world to you and keep you learning. What about you? What do you do to keep yourself engaged with the world (and with your own brain)? Share your ideas in the comment section below.

Read the full article: Stay Intellectually "Healthy" with Multiple Sclerosis