Spina bifida occurs early in the development of a fetus, when the spine fails to close. The consequences can range from no symptoms to mobility impairment.
By Kelly Rouba

Jennifer Biggers (left) and Amy Saffell both have the same type of spina bifida, but every person’s condition is unique.
I first met Karen Palazzini in […]

A rare spinal cord injury to an obscure bundle of nerves comes with a series of frightening and painful conditions. But to most witnesses, people with cauda equina syndrome don’t seem to have any disabilities at all.

by Your Friend Flicka
After years of working for a corporation, I felt I wanted to do something […]

What we know about multiple sclerosis now, and what we have yet to discover.
By Tom Scott
Jean-Martin Charcot, professor of Neurology at the University of Paris, was the first to complete a detailed study of multiple sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system. In 1868, Charcot analyzed some unusual symptoms […]

Naltrexone, in a low dose, can boost the immune system — potentially helping those with central nervous system disorders like multiple sclerosis.
By Ronald Hoffman, MD, and Skip Lenz, Pharm D FASCP
“LDN may well be the most important therapeutic breakthrough in over fi fty years,” says David Gluck, MD, editor of www.ldninfo.org, a Web […]

The AXIS Dance Company inspires in more ways than one.

Text and Photos by Alice Faye Love

Margaret Cromwell, Alice Sheppard, Lisa Bufano and Rodney Bell of San Francisco’s AXIS Dance Company perform at a public school in Birmingham, Alabama.

Many a dance performance has left me scratching my head wondering what just happened. Even having […]

by Richard L. Bruno
You may be asking why there’s a new column in Action about polio, a terrifying disease of the twentieth century that was cured when a vaccine was developed in 1955. The poliovirus, which caused muscle weakness, paralysis and death, is gone, you may say.
Unfortunately, the vaccine didn’t cure polio. And, […]

By Ed Lash
In her book, Multiple Sclerosis, a Self-help Guide to Its Management, Judy Graham tells the story of Rita Greer whose husband, Alan, had a particularly severe case of multiple sclerosis (MS). They tried everything and everyone to fi nd him a cure until their money was exhausted. Their poverty was such that […]

By Rosemarie Rossetti, PhD
After a spinal cord injury, where we go and who we visit become more limited. Since my injury in June 1998, I can no longer go to any of my neighbor’s homes and ring their doorbells. Even the two brand new homes a few doors down from me were built with […]