Nancy J. Holland

As its title suggests, this book is a valuable resource for those newly diagnosed with MS. It’s also a highly readable and informative update for patients who’ve been living with the disease for a longer time. There’s detailed information about advances in treatment, current clinical studies, and the science that underlies those efforts. The authors strike the delicate balance of providing a large volume of technical medical and scientific information in a matter-of-fact way without dumbing it down or seeming to treat the reader with condescension.

Unlike many books on this topic, this one provides information about alternative treatments in a relatively non-judgmental way; the risks and unknowns, and evidence of ineffectiveness of some such treatments, are presented for the reader’s consideration. Also unusually useful for a book in this genre is the glossary, which is readable on its own as a tour through the concepts and issues with which a patient must become familiar in learning to effectively navigate a course following the MS diagnosis.… (mais)

I wish I would have had access to this book 10 years ago after I was diagnosed with Transverse Myelitis and eventually MS. The newly diagnosed have so much information to process and it seems an endless amount of questions that they want answered. This book can answer many of them and what question it doesn't answer, the reader can use the additional readings and resources to help get them answered.

The book is thoughtfully organized and has a flow that leads the reader through the history, the causes, the treatments and medicines (conventional and unconventional), and helpful guides to living and coping with MS. The chapters on research and clinical trials were fascinating to read. The explanation of how clinical trials work is also worth the read, especially if you are thinking of or are involved in any of the trials.

I also liked the Glossary section and Table of Contents. Both are helpful for future reference and for readers who like to jump around to different section and chapters.

Overall, I found this book well researched, well written and very informative. I will keep this book on my shelf for future reference and have used it for finding other resources on the Internet. I will be recommending this to friends that have MS and for anybody that has questions about this disease.… (mais)