Editorial - Volume 13, Issue 4 - December 2011

Due to my clinical and other responsibilities, I generally limit my travel to trips that really matter, and so I am happy to report that my recent trip to attend the Short Course for Medical Editors held in Oxford, United Kingdom, this fall was well worth the time. This annual course, sponsored in part by the British Medical Journal, is attended by 25 individuals, mostly editors in chief from around the world—this year from Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Chile, and Australia as well as the United Kingdom and United States—who want to learn how to improve and grow their publications both in print and online. My attendance at this meeting was particularly timely, as the IJMSC expects to launch a newly designed website in 2012 in order to increase the discoverability and searchability of our content. We have made a great deal of progress with our print journal, as evidenced by the very positive responses to our recent reader survey. We greatly appreciate your participation in this survey, and we welcome any further comments and suggestions. Our immediate focus will now shift to improving our online presence to enhance readers' and authors' experience in the years to come.

The current issue of IJMSC also addresses the theme of creative use of online resources, with a contribution by Dr. Stuifbergen and colleagues from the University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, on computer-assisted cognitive training in multiple sclerosis (MS). Given the ubiquity of computers in our society today and the severe difficulties that many MS patients have with transportation, this feasibility study is welcome both to our readers who may be contemplating starting similar programs and, eventually, to MS patients who want to attempt the training. Due to the progressive nature of MS, there has been concern that cognitive rehabilitation efforts may be wasted. However, with more and more medications available to arrest or at least slow down the disease process, increasing attention will be paid to this area. Interested researchers in the area of cognition should also note that we are still accepting manuscripts for an upcoming theme issue on cognition, “Novel Approaches for Assessing and Facilitating Cognition in MS,” with guest editors Dr. Ralph Benedict of the State University of New York at Buffalo and Dr. Kathleen Fuchs of the University of Virginia. The issue is slated for Summer 2012.

Dr. Hart of Focus On Therapeutic Outcomes, Inc, in Knoxville, Tennessee, with colleagues at CentraState Healthcare System in Freehold, New Jersey, explore another application of computer technology in their article describing preliminary results of developing a wellness program for people with MS. The article describes the feasibility of using a database to which both patients and clinicians contribute, with the goal of enhancing our understanding of various wellness behaviors in both individuals and groups of patients with MS. On the opposite end of the technology spectrum, with no computer or even electricity required, Drs. Tavee, Rensel, and colleagues at the Cleveland Clinic explore the use of mindfulness and other meditation techniques to reduce pain and improve quality of life in MS patients. Although the study was small, the authors suggest that with training, many patients may be able to reduce their reliance on medications for symptom control.

Also in this issue are a number of contributions to our understanding of gait in MS. Dr. Motl and colleagues at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign report on their work on the calibration of accelerometer output in adults with MS. This study advances our understanding of energy expenditure in MS patients with gait disturbance. Further contributing to our understanding of the various gait problems experienced by MS patients is a collection of abstracts from the First Annual Symposium on Gait and Balance in MS, held on October 1, 2011, at the Oregon Health & Science University in Portland. We are pleased to publish the poster abstracts from this meeting, which was co-organized by Dr. Motl and Dr. Kathleen Zackowski, the latter of the Kennedy Krieger Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in Baltimore, Maryland.

Finally, Dr. Buchanan of Mississippi State University and his colleague Dr. Huang of Indiana University in Bloomington explore a frequently neglected group that is vital to the overall health and well-being of MS patients, namely, informal caregivers. They examine the factors associated with the strength of the caregiver/care recipient relationship, which is often critical to any planned intervention, whether high- or low-tech.

In this final issue of our year-long celebration of our tenth anniversary in print, we also thank the reviewers who make this publication possible. In addition, we remind you to submit your abstracts for the next annual meeting of the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers, to be held in late May of 2012 in San Diego. Finally, we welcome manuscript submissions on any topic related to MS care, but in particular on cognition for our Summer 2012 theme issue.

Looking forward to new and exciting upgrades to our online presence in 2012, I wish you a Happy New Year!