Skip to main content Skip to navigation

Open Door

A free, quarterly newsletter for people with MS, their family and friends and supporters of the MS Trust.

Join the Open Door mailing list to receive your own copy through the post (UK addresses only) or by email.

An error at the printers' means that some copies of the November 2008 issue of Open Door have pages in the wrong order. If your copy is like this, please contact us for a replacement.

Click on a title to read the full article.

August 2008

News
Research news
Campaigning
Spasticity and spasms
Louise Jarrett, spasticity nurse specialist
Audit of MS services
Chris Jones, MS Trust
The Red Wheelies
Jackie Weedon
Can the monster shrink?
Jo Johnson, consultant neuropsychologist
A 63rd birthday surprise
Ann Minshull
MS Trust logo competition
MS Trust Information Team news

May 2008

News
Research news
Campaigning
The MS Trust: the early years
Chris Jones, MS Trust
MS Trust funded research
Everybody needs good neighbours
Arli Miller, MS Australia
Benefits of a standing wheelchair
Sarah Morris
From the end of the world to the end of the Wall
David Eliot
MS Trust Information Team news

February 2008

News
Research news
Campaigning
Blooming marvellous
Paula Barrett
Social networking online - you are not alone
Helena Jidborg
Vertigo in multiple sclerosis
Anne McGlynn, neuro-rehabilitation specialist physiotherapist
Botulinum toxin
Michael P Barnes, Professor of Neurological Rehabilitation
Information prescriptions and getting the most from appointments
Lynn Fox, information officer
MS Trust Information Team news

November 2007

News
Research news
Political issues
A design for my Dad
Emma Shavick
Risk - a personal view
Risk - what your clinician should tell you
Richard Thomson, Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health
The Art of Movement
MS Trust Information Team news

August 2007

Access to effective help and support
News
Research news
New drugs in development
Working with MS
Gail Townsend, research occupational therapist
At work with MS: managing life and work
Staying cool with MS
Move it for MS
Tim Worner
MS Trust Information Team news

May 2007

News
Research news
Patient centred care - myth or reality?
The cost and quality of life and MS
Sexuality and MS
MS and relationships
Catherine Allen, Relate
Drug development
New oral drugs in development
My MS
James Buxton
Information Team news

February 2007

News
Research news
MS and neurological services in the UK
Nicola Russell, Director of Services, MS Trust
Ten years of making a difference
Incontinence pads and beyond
Jenny Henderson
MS research – theories and areas for progress
Professor Alasdair Compston
Primary progressive multiple sclerosis
Dr Valerie L Stevenson
FES and me
Graham Rimington
Sculpture from wire
Edward Netley
Information Team news

November 2006

Research news
For knowledge itself is power
The MS Trust Information Service - an evaluation
Stem cells and the future of MS research
How much fluid does an incontinence pad hold?
Continence advisory services and the provision of continence pads
Ian Pomfret, Continence Adviser, Chorley and South Ribble PCT
Not all bladder problems are MS
Climbing up the wall with MS?
David Parsons
Information Team news

August 2006

News
Research news
MS services: who takes responsibility?
The young person's guide to MS
IT can change lives
Carrie St Freedman, AbilityNet
Accessibility features built into Windows
Ruth Loebl, Royal National Institute of the Blind
MS, doctors and disappointment
Sarah Martin

May 2006

News
Research news
Risk from NHS cuts
Stem cells - evidence and risk
The value of a good diet
Rita Greer
The Italian job
Ken Dickson
Hippotherapy - a new movement experience: what fun!
Lesley Furnell, physiotherapist, Revive Scotland
Conquistador horses - a therapeutic ride
Alexander Burnfield

February 2006

News
Research news
Work and MS
The Lady Mayoress and MS
Sarah Joiner
A reasonable approach to diet
Allen Bowling and Thomas Stewart, Rocky Mountain MS Center, Colorado

November 2005

News
Research news
Evaluating health information
Complementary and alternative medicine and MS
Vicki Gutteridge, MS specialist nurse, Southampton
To move or not to move? That was the question...
Carol Felton
MS Together – the first information DVD for people with MS

August 2005

Research news
Revisiting my home - Uganda
Sarah Bourne
Belly dancing a therapeutic tool – or just a belly laugh?
Vanessa Hall, sometime dancer, enthusiast and neuro-physiotherapist
Connections and Reinventions - art and MS

May 2005

Research news
Functional electrical stimulation
Geraldine Mann, Physiotherapist, Salisbury
Rehabilitation
Barbara Chandler, Consultant in Rehab Medicine, Newcastle Upon Tyne
Where there's a will (or always read small print in insurance policies!)
Kathryn Higham

February 2005

Research news
Patient involvement in the NHS
Nicola Russell, MS Trust
Living with MS
Steve and Beth McGowan
Fatigue management
Exercise by the Aga... how I'm trying to beat MS
Edith Rifkind

October 2004

MS - my journey so far
Alison J Dunsmore
10 tips for coping when you have MS
Dawn Langdon, Psychology Department, Royal Holloway College, London
Bladder problems in MS
Annette Leach, MS Nurse Specialist, Reading

August 2004

Tapping the potential of community pharmacies
Melanie Smaus, PSNC
Coming to terms with MS - a partner's perspective
Lesley Crawford
Aquafit
Ellie Hollingsworth

May 2004

Fatigue management
Jacqueline Toff
Speech and language therapy and MS - beyond the glottal stop
Steven Bloch, Speech and Language Theraspist/Lecturer, UCL, London
Reflecting on MS

March 2004

Direct Payments - tool for independent living
Jill Lovell, Mel Thompson, Robin Maxted
MS in the family
Kerry Mutch, MS specialist nurse, Walton Centre, Liverpool

November 2003

Aromatherapy for pain in multiple sclerosis
Amanda Howarth, clinical nurse spcialist - pain, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital
Gather jewels from the week: women talk about their positive strategies for living with MS
Frances Reynolds and Sarah Prior, Brunel University

August 2003

MS, pregnancy and parenthood
Kate Watkiss, MS specialist nurse, Shrewsbury
Sexual dysfunction in MS
Nicki Ward, MS specialist nurse/lecturer, Birmingham

May 2003

The information needs of people with MS
Diet and MS?
Bernice Chiswell, dietician, Bedford
The healing value of sex
David Spero

February 2003

Tips for living with MS: work, rest and play
Get into it! - Get involved!: new patient organisations and the NHS
Jonathan Russell, MS Trust
Wellness
Jill Lovell
Well-being in MS
Michelle Ennis, MS clinical specialist occupational therapist, Walton Centre, Liverpool
Jenny Craig, physiotherapist, Walton Centre, Liverpool

November 2002

How I went into care and lived!
John Major
Functional electrical stimulation in multiple sclerosis
Catherine Johnson, Department Of Medical Physics, Salisbury District Hospital
Exercise experience in the context of MS
Kath Cuthbert

August 2002

Wheelchairs - a health professional's perspective
Gail Townsend - MS specialist occupational therapist, Aylesbury
What is your opinion of your wheelchair?
Members Of MS People UK Discussion List
Wheelchairs - depressing black cloud or handy labour saving gadget?
Liz Betts, physiotherapist, Newmarket

May 2002

Diagnosis: a personal view
Danny Grewcock interview
Conversations, observations, and exclamation
Gerald Levy, former university lecturer
MS: issues around the diagnosis
Alexander Burnfield, consultant in child and adolescent psychiatry, Hampshire
Does early treatment of multiple sclerosis prevent the progression of disability later on?
Alisdair Coles, Wellcome Advanced Fellow Neurology, University Of Cambridge
Amanda Cox, research fellow, Addenbrooke's Hospital Cambridge

November 2001

Being a father with MS
Gary Hetherington
A partner with MS
Frank Norman
Defining boundaries
Lynda Hind, neurological nurse specialist, Holt, Norfolk

August 2001

Homoeopathy and multiple sclerosis
Dr Tom Whitmarsh, Glasgow Homoeopathic Hospital
Finding disability equipment
Sally Atkinson, senior physiotherapist, Berkshire MS Therapy Centre

May 2001

Personal views of rehabilitation services
Personal exercise training for people with MS
Michael Hills, sport and exercise science consultant, Bridgwater
Physiotherapy for people with MS
Liz Betts, senior physiotherapist, Newmarket Community Hospital, Suffolk

August 2000

Pain in multiple sclerosis
Amanda Howarth, clinical nurse specialist in pain management, Sheffield
Fatigue in multiple sclerosis: an occupational therapy perspective
Jane Streeter, senior occupational therapist, National Hospital, London
Miriam May, formerly senior occupational therapist, National Hospital, London
Reflections upon communication and MS
Steven Bloch, speech and language therapist, Worthing
Acupuncture and MS
Jill Brookes, acupuncturist, Tyne and Wear