ok, i get it.

my daily google updates lately have been stuffed full of stories that smoking  worsens ms, and increases the rate at which the disease progresses. i will admit that until about 22 years ago, i was a free-spirited smoker, and that after i quit the habit, i still smoked every now and then. i actually enjoyed it much more when it was only now and then. in the last few years, since my ms diagnosis, it has seemed intuitive that smoking (which constricts the blood vessels in the brain) was not a good thing for people with ms. i smoked even less frequently, and often i could feel it in my legs, in my balance, in my overall energy levels.

but now i read over and over (ok, i get it) that my smoking might have hastened the onset of ms, and makes it worse, and makes it worse faster. ok, (again) i get it. no more smoking. not only am i no longer invinceable at age 50, but if smoking is going to make the ms worse faster, i guess i have to face the fact, and not smoke any more. or at least make the now-and-then more then than now.

also in my google update is the news that lisinopril, a relatively inexpensive blood-pressure medication, might be effective at not only reducing the risk of ms paralysis, but might also be able to reverse it. as usual, this has only been tested in mice (how come mice get all the breaks?), but it is another encouraging note that the research into ms “cures” might actually pay off someday – hopefully soon. since i already take several blood pressure meds, i’m going to ask my cardiologist if lisinopril can be substituted or added. can’t hurt, eh?

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