TUESDAY, Sept. 30 (HealthDay News) -- Children vaccinated against hepatitis B probably are not at an increased risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS) unless they were inoculated with a particular brand of the vaccine, according to a new study.

The French study found that children with MS were almost twice as likely to have received the vaccine called Engerix B three or more years before the disease's onset. Further studies will need to be done to determine whether the vaccine is a direct cause of the development of MS.

Multiple Sclerosis
CA San Francisco/Bay Area
Applies to: + 18 years of age
Patient Compensation: Patients will receive study related medication and expert medical care at no cost
Number of Visits: 19
Length of Study: 4 years

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, potentially debilitating disease that affects your central nervous system, which is made up of your brain and spinal cord. Multiple sclerosis is widely believed to be an autoimmune disease, a condition in which your immune system attacks components of your body as if they're foreign.

FRIDAY, June 27 (HealthDay News) -- People with multiple sclerosis are at a greater risk than the general population for developing restless legs syndrome (RLS), a new Italian study suggests.

"This is important, because RLS is one of the symptoms that can seriously affect an MS patient's quality of life, even more than a lot of other problems MS patients face," said lead researcher Dr. Giovanni Cossu, a neurologist at Brudzu Hospital in Cagliari, Italy. "Therapies for RLS [such as] dopamine agonists are normally very effective and can restore this quality of life, " he added.

We all like a bit of drama in our lives. Nothing like something different, exciting or even scandalous to add interest to our day. Some of us like the adrenaline rush of extreme sports. I have to confess during my mad travels around the globe I have bungee- jumped, skydived and enjoyed hot air ballooning and white water rafting. I hit some dangerously fast speeds on the back of a motor bike too many times to count.

By Serena Gordon
EmpowHer's HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, May 12 (HealthDay News) -- Only about 5 percent of people with multiple sclerosis are diagnosed when they're children, but like adults with MS, the disease can affect cognitive function, causing memory and attention problems, and possibly low IQ scores.

WEDNESDAY, April 30 (HealthDay News) -- Prozac may help reduce disease activity in people with the relapsing remitting form of multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study suggests.

Forty patients with the disease were randomly selected to receive either 20 milligrams a day of fluoxetine (Prozac) or a placebo for 24 weeks. MRI brain scans were conducted every four weeks to monitor the patients for new areas of neurological inflammation, a hallmark of disease activity.

By Steven Reinberg
EmpowHer's HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, April 15 (HealthDay News) -- The first pill designed to reduce the number of attacks in people with multiple sclerosis appears to be effective in early tests, Italian researchers report.

MS typically strikes between 20 and 40 and the initial symptom, according to the National Institute of Health is double vision, red-green color distortion or even blindness in one eye.

Other symptoms include:

Muscle weakness;
Difficulty with coordination and balance;
Numbness;
Prickling sensation;
Speech impediments;
Tremors;
Dizziness;
Hearing loss

Half of the people with MS also cognitive difficulties with:

Concentration;
Attention;
Memory and
Poor judgment;

Some may also experience depression.

March is MS Awarenss month.