NMO Awareness Month

Being positive for or showing high levels of antibodies against the aquaporin-4 (AQP4) protein at diagnosis doesn’t predict worse outcomes for people with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), according to a small study. Plasma exchange therapy was linked with a trend for slower disability progression, although it wasn’t…

When I first became sick with neuromyelitis optica (NMO), people often told me how sorry they were. I believe they genuinely meant it, but it’s always an uncomfortable and awkward conversation for both parties. As the patient, I never want people to feel sad, so my natural response…

A young woman had a rebound of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) toward the end of her pregnancy, for which she underwent plasma exchange and took steroids, according to a report from researchers in the U.S. Because treatment with plasma exchange and steroids did not work well enough, the…

Last month was my 41st birthday. A celebration is often a pipe dream, resulting in me feeling drained as the day approaches and then doing nothing. This year was different, though; I had no big plans except eagerly waiting while my husband installed my new birthday gift. I had requested…

While here in Canada we celebrate Thanksgiving a little earlier than our friends in the United States, I feel it works to my advantage. I treat the Thanksgiving holiday — which falls on the second Monday in October in Canada — as the start of a period of…

Inflammatory episodes in the spinal cord of people with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) resulted in changes in functional connectivity in the brain, an imaging study shows. Functional connectivity refers to the correlation between brain signals over time that reflects functional connections between two or more brain regions. Reduced…

It feels like there’s a test for everything. As I hit milestones with neuromyelitis optica (NMO), a rare autoimmune disease that can affect the spinal cord and optic nerves, I am subjected to more tests. The latest was a bone density test, also called a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA)…

Patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) or multiple sclerosis (MS), another disease that damages the protective myelin sheaths around nerve cells, are at higher risk than healthy individuals of also developing Parkinson’s disease (PD), a South Korean study found. The study, “Risk of Parkinson’s disease…

One of the most important jobs new parents have is to protect their children from pain. I am a mother of three, and every time one of my kids gets hurt, I want to take on the pain myself. When my youngest daughter, Bella, was hospitalized with neuromyelitis…

On a recent overnight trip, my family used a couple of pieces of our luggage set. My husband, Mike, reached into one of the side pockets and retrieved something that shocked him. “What’s this?!” His bewildered look told me he already knew, but he wanted my acknowledgment. I immediately recognized…