New Swim for MS Website Launches!

Posted on November 12, 2012 by MSAA

It’s Finally Here!

MSAA has launced our brand-new Swim for MS website! Check it out by visiting SwimForMS.org!

If you haven’t heard, Swim for MS is a national fundraiser in which volunteers are encouraged to create their own swim challenge while recruiting online donations to support MSAA and the MS community. You can participate individually or recruit other swim enthusiasts to form a team.

It’s as easy as 1-2-3!

Create your swim activity
Set your challenge goal
Recruit online donations

With our new and improved Swim for MS, you will now receive a Swim for MS Welcome Kit (coming soon) in the mail after completing your registration, which includes:

One Swim for MS t-shirt
One Swim for MS towel
20 Swim for MS wristbands

To register, please go to SwimForMS.org. After you complete your registration, select Access your Participant Center Now to create your online fundraising page! To inspire you, please check out our Swim for MS Profiles for examples of how to create your Swim for MS challenge.

Thank you for your support, and happy swimming!

Rock Out MS and Sharkfest San Diego

Posted on October 10, 2012 by Rob

After carefully mapping out the direction of Active with MS, I finally decided the first event I wanted to do to inspire MS patients to be active would be an open water swim and that swim would go to benefit MSAA. After going to a MSAA event in San Diego, I learned MSAA was recruiting volunteers for a swim fundraiser. I grew up a swimmer, I love open water races, it was too perfect to not participate. After looking at the list of local races for the year in San Diego I decided on participating in Sharkfest on October 14^th, a race that goes from the San Diego Convention Center to the Coronado Side of the Coronado Bridge, a distance of a little over a mile. While this should be a fun event for people to go to I really wanted to create an additional event that would allow me to meet more new people and have fun with my family and friends. To accomplish this I am putting together a benefit concert on October 12^th to serve as the main fundraiser for my swim.

The concert will be at Robbie’s Roadhouse Bar and Grille located at 530 N. Coast Hwy 101 Leucadia, California 92024. The talented Jesse Cox Syn-Drum will be providing live music from 6:30-10:30 and there will be a silent auction. In addition the restaurant will be donating a portion of the money spent on food and drinks to the cause as well. If you are in the area come by and say hi and join in on the fun. I’m really looking forward to this event, I’m expecting a lot of people and I really want this fundraiser to be successful for MSAA. If you can’t make it please still consider donating to my race at

http://support.mymsaa.org/site/TR/Swim1Mile/General?px=1548101&pg=personal&fr_id=1100

MS will never get the better of me, I am determined to stay strong and beat it. I hope you feel the same way. I have MS right now but I still believe there is a chance that one day I won’t. In the meantime I will continue to stay active and create events like these for MSAA and hopefully find more people to join me.

No matter how you help the MS community, thank you. Stay active, Stay positive, Go forth and beat MS.

http://activewithms.com/

Read MSAA’s latest issue of The Motivator

Posted on October 5, 2012 by John MSAA

The latest issue of MSAA’s magazine, The Motivator, is out now – read it online, download a version to your computer, or order a copy today.

Included in the online issue:

* Cover Story – The Evolution of MS Diagnosis, Treatment, and Care

* Research News – Aubagio® approval and other research updates

* Health and Wellness – The benefits of aquatic therapy and exercise

…Plus, extra “Ask the Doctor” answers, not included in the printed magazine!

*********************

The Evolution of MS Diagnosis, Treatment, and Care:

From the mid-1800s to the late 1900s, diagnostic criteria and therapies were fraught with uncertainty – and required more than a century of trial and error to reach today’s high level of success. Seventeen MS specialists are quoted, giving details about the most important contributions in MS history.

Read the full story

Research News:

Read about the recent FDA-approval of Aubagio® (teriflunomide), as well as updates on DMF (dimethyl fumarate) and Lemtrada™ (alemtuzumab), both submitted for FDA approval.

Read the full story

Health and Wellness:

Aquatic therapy and aquatic exercise are described, along with the benefits that they offer to individuals with MS.

Read the full story

The Motivator is MSAA’s award-winning magazine provided to the MS community and to our generous supporters.

Read the latest issue of The Motivator

Presenting MSAA’s Artist of the Month for August 2012

Posted on August 8, 2012 by MSAA

MSAA is very proud to present our 2012 Art Showcase – celebrating the work of artists affected by MS.

August Artist of the Month:

Margie Kapaczewski – Philadelphia, PA

“ Change in life is inevitable. However, we create time stamps along the way…painting is my time stamp. It is the moment that I become intentionally lost in my thoughts and inspiration. I create my vision and stamp it onto a canvas, a paper, or a piece of material to keep forever.

With MS, memory is a gift…without MS, memory is still a gift. Art is my visual memory where I can reflect on a time with fondness or be triumphant as I was strong enough to make it through.”
Read more

Be inspired – please send an online card featuring artwork by MS artist Margie Kapaczewski and spread awareness of MS and MSAA.

MS News Update – Highlights from CMSC 2012

Posted on July 30, 2012 by John MSAA

Highlights from The Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers’ Annual Meeting

MSAA has posted a new online article giving highlights from this year’s Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers’ Annual Meeting. MS experts from around the country attended this exciting conference, where the latest findings in MS research, treatments, symptom management, and patient care were presented.

Topics highlighted in this article include three new drugs presently under review by the FDA (teriflunomide, dimethyl fumarate, and alemtuzumab), while also giving the results of the Copaxone® study with lower-frequency dosing. The article explains the difficulties in understanding progressive forms of MS, presents the findings through different types of brain imaging, and provides information about a new study. Biomarkers, surrogates, and cognition are addressed in detail as well.

Read the full article on highlights from this year’s Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers’ Annual Meeting.

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