Multiple Sclerosis and Your Bones

I truly enjoyed "Boning Up on Multiple Sclerosis" in the January/February 2010 issue of Neurology Now. I have been around multiple sclerosis (MS) for 55 years now and work everyday to raise awareness. My mom suffered from MS for 38 years, and my wife is on year 20 with MS. I stay very busy maintaining my mom's foundation, which I started 10 years ago. The Mary J. Szczepanski "Never Give Up" MS Scholarship Foundation is a living memorial to my mom, a very courageous lady. We are national, and our website is msscholarship.org. We just added a new $1,000 scholarship for a student already in college who raises funds for MS. High school seniors from MI, CA, WI, PA, FL, and many other states are chasing our 2nd National award of $1,000.  - Rick Szczepanski

Animal Research

After reading "Of Mice and Humans" (January/February 2010), I found myself both relieved and disappointed. I am a man with two neurological disorders (essential tremor and epilepsy), but I have strong reservations about animal experimentation as a means of finding treatments and cures for neurological issues.

I was relieved that you chose not to paint those who oppose experimentation upon animals as hysterics. I find that other articles and organizations tend to do this. By stereotyping, we demean those with valid questions and concerns on either side of an argument.

However, I was disappointed that you opted not to contact an organization such as Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (P.C.R.M) for another perspective. This organization has physicians and researchers who promote an alternative viewpoint to the premise of your article and the researchers you interviewed. They believe it is time to move away from animal research. P.C.R.M. has a panel specifically for this type of dialogue. I believe that this is an important issue that needs more discussion. - Eric Siegel, St. Petersburg, FL

Thank you for your recent article on the importance of animals in research, for which I was interviewed. ("Of Mice and Humans," January/February 2010.) Here are suggestions for additional materials that your readers might be interested in reading on the topic:

• An Odyssey with Animals: A Veterinarian's Reflections on the Animal Rights & Welfare Debate, Adrian R. Morrison (Oxford University Press, 2009).
• Moving Beyond Animal Rights: A Legal/Contractualist Critique, Richard Cupp (San Diego Law Review, Winter 2009).
• The Animal Research War, P. Michael Conn and James V. Parker (Palgrave & MacMillan, 2008).
• What Animals Want: Expertise and Advocacy in Laboratory Animal Welfare Policy, Larry Carbone (Oxford University Press, 2004).
• The Scalpel and the Butterfly: The War Between Animal Research and Animal Protection, Deborah Rudacille (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2000).

- Jasper Daube, M.D.,  Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN

The "Other" Dementias

A query from Ruth Baker about Lewy Body Dementia (LBD) appeared on the letters page of the November/December 2009 issue. Your response to her query was good, but a more appropriate Web site to guide Ms. Baker to (rather than FTD-Picks.org) would be the site offered by the Lewy Body Dementia Association, lbda.org.

The site contains information for lay people and professionals, opportunities to join support groups (both online and local), and much more. My husband passed away from complications of LBD last June. The site has helped me and I have become a volunteer for the organization.

According to the LBDA, 1.3 million Americans are battling LBD, making it the second leading cause of dementia after Alzheimer's. LBDA is always extremely grateful when the organization and the disease are brought to the public's attention. Thank you so much.  - Florence Munat,  Bainbridge Island, WA

I find your magazine a very good source of information, and I especially liked "The Other Dementias" (November/December 2009). I have been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and I am so grateful to see you bringing these other illnesses to light. One point that you might want to consider: On page 33, the article states that "only symptomatic treatments are available" for FTD, and that "there are no treatments for language problems." I suggest you have someone investigate the use of speech therapy/pathology. I went to a speech therapist who successfully showed me techniques to compensate for my difficulty in finding appropriate words. - Don Lilenfeld, Asheville, NC

Multiple System Atrophy

Thank you so much for printing an article on multiple system atrophy (MSA) in the September/October 2009 issue. I am one of the unlucky people who has been diagnosed with this deadly disease. Many physicians and health professionals have never heard of MSA. Treatment and funding are limited because there is no patient base, and awareness of this disease is almost zero. There are still no medications that really work for MSA. I only hope that modern medicine has some real breakthrough to save us. - Debbie Linn, Weatherford, OK

Parkinson's Quilt

Several members of the online support group PatientsLikeMe.com who have Parkinson's disease made squares for a quilt. This was done as a way of bringing awareness to Parkinson's and to show that even with a disabling illness, patients can still contribute to society. The squares were collected by one member and taken to a professional quilter who "set" and sewed the squares together and then quilted it. The beauty and diversity of this quilt is beyond words. Each square represents in some way the member who made it. The squares are done in all types of media and all are handmade by a member or caretaker. The quilt has been traveling around the United States for the past few months. I know "she" has been to Kentucky, Texas, Colorado, and is now "in my custody" in Indiana until March 8, 2010. The U.S. quilt spurred the making of many quilts for the World Parkinson's Conference to be held in Glasgow, Scotland. - Janice Kroger, Columbus, IN