Information Team news
Open Door - May 2010 pages 13 and 16
- Exercises for people with MS
- Talking with your kids about MS
- New factsheets
- Sexuality and MS - a guide for men
New from the MS Trust
Already in 2010, the MS Trust has launched three important new resources for people with MS. You can read about the writing of MS and me - a self-management guide to living with MS elsewhere in this issue. Here we look at the other new additions.
Exercises for people with MS
These pages on our website build on the success of the previous book of the same title, which has been the most popular item produced by the MS Trust. The new version expands the range of exercises and allows users to put together a personalised set of exercises to meet their own particular needs.
Staying as active and as fit as possible has been shown to be beneficial for people with MS and an important element in maintaining general health and well being.
Regular activity can reduce the risk of coronary disease, lower blood pressure, help to control weight and help protect against osteoporosis. It also has a role in reducing stress and low mood and in helping with a number of MS symptoms including fatigue and bowel and bladder function.
Exercises for people with MS was compiled with specialist physiotherapist Liz Betts and contains simple but effective exercises for all people with MS. The exercises are arranged in categories based both on how they are done - whether sitting, standing, kneeling or lying - and the type of problems they address - posture, balance, stretching, etc. Each exercise is clearly illustrated with an animation and can be downloaded as a pdf.
- Read order or download
- Visit the Exercises for people with MS pages
Talking with your kids about MS
"I was dreading telling my children about my diagnosis, and I was going to put it off for as long as I could. I thought I had been protecting them, but in hindsight they'd been confused and worried. They were all so young but I hadn't credited their intelligence."
When a parent is affected by MS, discussing MS with children may seem daunting. As a parent, you know your own circumstances and your own children best. That makes you the best judge of how to discuss MS with your family, when the right time might be and what you might tell them.
The MS Trust's new book, Talking with your kids about MS, developed with neuropsychologist Jo Johnson, looks at the concerns parents may have and aims to provide some ideas to help broach the subject and keep up a dialogue in the future.
It doesn't tell you exactly what to say to your children but it will give some suggestions about how to tell them, some of the things they may want to know and what other parents' experiences have been. It will help you to talk about MS and encourage your children to ask questions, share their own worries and express their feelings.
Other books for families
Talking with your kids about MS joins our range of publications for families:
Kids' guide to MS
Aimed at 6-10 year olds who have a mum or dad with MS.
The young person's guide to MS
Written with and for 10-16 year olds who have a parent with MS.
- Read order or download
- Talking with your kids about MS
- Kids' guide to MS
- The young person's guide to MS
New factsheets
Vitamin D
With increasing interest in the role of vitamin D both in the onset of multiple sclerosis and as a treatment, this factsheet covers some of the recent research.
Depression
Depression is an under-recognised and undertreated symptom in people with MS where half of all those diagnosed will be medically depressed at some time in the illness. This factsheet looks at the causes of depression and how it can be managed.
Clinically isolated syndrome
A first episode of neurological symptoms can be an indicator of what may turn out to be multiple sclerosis. In the absence of a second episode or of a definite diagnosis, this is referred to as clinically isolated syndrome (CIS). This new factsheet examines the typical presentations of CIS, different assessments that might be recommended, treatments for CIS and starting disease modifying drug therapy, and risk factors associated with CIS converting to MS.
- Read order or download
- Vitamin D factsheet
- Depression factsheet
- Clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) factsheet
Sexuality and MS - a guide for men
Sexual problems are rarely discussed symptoms of MS and many men are unaware of treatments that might be available and how to discuss what they are experiencing with their partner or with a health professional.
Having published Sexuality and MS - a guide for women in 2007, the MS Trust is about to start work on an equivalent resource for men. To help us make the contents and design of the resource as helpful as possible, we are asking men to complete a brief, anonymous survey about the problems they have encountered and how the new resource might be best presented.
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Disclaimer
Open Door articles are reproduced as published. They are not updated to take account of subsequent developments. Use appropriate caution in acting on the information in any article.