Multiple Sclerosis

Every Sunday, Harvard pre-med student Ryan Christ goes to a Roslindale nursing home to visit the woman he calls his mentor, an 85-year-old physician named Sofia Itkis. Itkis advises him on everything from politics to girlfriends to careers. She tells him to make the most of his Harvard education, though she doesn't think much of Harvard doctors. She talks about the fulfillment found in public service. One week, though, she mentioned something Christ really took to heart.

Q. After more than 40 years of devotion to my husband, I have finally realized what a stone-hearted jerk he is. I have done everything in my power to love, respect, and encourage him. But I have fallen into a pattern of overlooking my own hurt in order to keep peace in our home. All of this is "not important" to him, as he has told me numerous times. My marriage is terribly lonely. I have fought hard to stay in his life, and he tells me, "So what?" and "Leave if you want to. " I have raised our children and worked beside him and also outside the home.

KEENE, N.H. - When Ann Romney attended a Republican luncheon at Michele's Ristorante, she passed up the standard chicken and beef entrees and instead asked the chef to pack up a chicken Caesar salad to go. "We got a little ways out of town and ate," recalled Romney's traveling aide Susan Duprey. "I bring little tablecloths to put on our laps, and silverware. We sit there, eat our healthy food, and go on. " For Ann Romney, wife of presidential candidate Mitt Romney, proper nutrition is not about looking thin onstage.

Every Sunday, Harvard pre-med student Ryan Christ goes to a Roslindale nursing home to visit the woman he calls his mentor, an 85-year-old physician named Sofia Itkis. Itkis advises him on everything from politics to girlfriends to careers. She tells him to make the most of his Harvard education, though she doesn't think much of Harvard doctors. She talks about the fulfillment found in public service. One week, though, she mentioned something Christ really took to heart.

CAMBRIDGE — Two months after completing its $20.1 billion buyout of Genzyme Corp., drug giant Sanofi SA is moving quickly to integrate the two companies. Sanofi has unveiled a research and development structure that will coordinate existing Genzyme and Sanofi research operations in Massachusetts through a new innovation unit called the Sanofi Boston R&D Hub. Genzyme’s own drug discovery programs, centered in Framingham, will operate within that unit as the Genzyme R&D Center.

Biogen Idec Inc. said Friday that its potential treatment for a common form of multiple sclerosis did better than a placebo in reducing relapses in late-stage clinical testing. The Weston, Mass., company said the oral treatment reduced the portion of patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis who relapsed by about half compared with a placebo. The results were from the first of two late-stage clinical studies that aim to determine the effectiveness and safety of the drug.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — Federal health specialists said yesterday that a first-of-its-kind multiple sclerosis drug from Novartis is safe and effective for controlling tremors, concentration problems, and other symptoms. Swiss drug maker Novartis has asked the Food and Drug Administration to approve its drug Gilenia as the first pill for multiple sclerosis. All of the existing drugs require frequent injections or infusions, and some can cause flu-like side effects. Doctors say more tolerable therapies are needed.

Biogen Idec and Abbott Laboratories said Sunday a mid-stage study of their multiple sclerosis medicine daclizumab showed that the experimental drug worked better than placebo at preventing relapse of symptoms of the inflammatory disease. The study involved 600 multiple sclerosis patients who were followed for one year. Patients were divided into three groups, receiving either: a dose of the drug, a larger dose of the drug or a placebo. Daclizumab is given in monthly injections.

Sanofi, which bought Cambridge-based Genzyme Corp. last year, is seeking new treatments to expand its multiple sclerosis business. The Paris-based drug maker said its experimental medicine Lemtrada, which it gained from Genzyme, improved disability scores in patients suffering from multiple sclerosis, compared with an older treatment, in a late-stage trial. The company has another experimental MS therapy, Aubagio, which was under development before the Genzyme purchase. Beyond Lemtrada and Aubagio, Sanofi has other experimental MS compounds in its pipeline, Panzara said.

IT IS sad enough to see many Republicans laud a man who left his first wife, ill with cancer, to marry his second wife, and asked his second wife, ill with multiple sclerosis, if he could carry on an adulterous affair with an employee who would subsequently become his third wife. But to then hear these same Republicans prattle on about the sanctity of marriage while denying same-sex couples the right to wed is the epitome of shameless hypocrisy. Arthur C. Norman Providence

Biogen Idec Inc.'s first-quarter net income rose 3 percent, as sales of the multiple sclerosis treatment Tysabri helped fuel the drugmaker's growth. But results missed Wall Street expectations and shares fell 2.9 percent in morning trading. The Weston, Mass., company said Tuesday it earned $302.7 million, or $1.25 per share, in the three months that ended March 31. That compares with earnings of $294.3 million, or $1.20 per share, in last year's quarter. Excluding costs for restructuring, paying employees with stock and other items, earnings were $1.40 per share.

Q. I am engaged to a wonderful guy who has multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair. He can no longer work and is home all day. He helps take care of the house, the pets, etc., and I work full time. This arrangement is fine with me. The only problem is: I have absolutely no time to myself. He expects me to be home and with him every second that I'm not working. If I go into another room to be alone for a while, he'll come in to see what I am doing. Occasionally, I make time to see my friends.

Sanofi, which bought Cambridge-based Genzyme Corp. last year, is seeking new treatments to expand its multiple sclerosis business. The Paris-based drug maker said its experimental medicine Lemtrada, which it gained from Genzyme, improved disability scores in patients suffering from multiple sclerosis, compared with an older treatment, in a late-stage trial. The company has another experimental MS therapy, Aubagio, which was under development before the Genzyme purchase. Beyond Lemtrada and Aubagio, Sanofi has other experimental MS compounds in its pipeline, Panzara said.

Glastonbury Abbey will host "Moving in the Spirit, A Day of Health and Hope," for people with Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, dystonia, and other movement disorders on April 28. The day will include chair massage, therapeutic dance, a session on flexibility and fitness, interfaith worship, and large and small group discussion. The program is made possible by a grant from the American Parkinson Disease Association, and will be put on by the Spirited Movement Foundation of Cohasset.

NEW YORK - A patient taking Novartis AG's Gilenya multiple sclerosis pill contracted a potentially deadly brain infection, adding to safety concerns about the Swiss drug maker's most promising potential blockbuster. The patient used Tysabri, an injection from Biogen Idec Inc. and Elan Corp., before using Gilenya, Novartis said in an e-mailed statement Friday. Tysabri increases the risk of the viral infection, known as progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, that usually leads to death or severe disability, according to a warning the drug's label has carried since 2006.

Q. My 64-year-old brother has refused to talk to my 86-year-old father for nearly 10 years. When our mother died, Dad remarried. He then sold the family home. He and his new wife built a new one in another town. My brother still thinks Dad should have split the sale profit with his children since half the house belonged to our mother. As far as I am concerned, Dad was not obligated to do this. By law, my mother's assets passed to her surviving spouse, which means Dad owned the house outright.

NEW YORK — Biogen Idec Inc. and Genentech said yesterday that they have amended their development agreement on a potential multiple sclerosis treatment. Genentech, a unit of the Swiss drug developer Roche, will now have responsibility for further development of ocrelizumab in multiple sclerosis and will fund all costs going forward. Cambridge, Mass.-based Biogen will receive tiered, double-digit royalties on US sales that will approximate its current 30 percent interest in the compound.

Looking for something the whole family can do over school vacation this week? Bina Farm is offering 45-minute weekday horse-riding sessions (normally $65) at its Sherborn location. The sessions support the farm's programs for kids and adults with a range of disabilities including autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, and multiple sclerosis. Time slots between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. (also on weekdays) are $40. E-mail info@binafarm.org or call 508-651-2462 to book; fill out the required paperwork here . The Sherborn location is at 34 Great Rock Rd.

Shares of Biogen Idec Inc. reached an all-time high Wednesday, and a Goldman Sachs analyst upgraded the stock, saying Biogen's drug pipeline is more promising than Wall Street analysts realize. THE OPINION: Analyst Sapna Srivastava upgraded the stock to "buy" from "neutral" and set a six-month price target of $150 per share. Srivastava said Wall Street is enthusiastic about Biogen's BG-12, an experimental oral drug that is designed to treat multiple sclerosis. On Feb. 28, Biogen asked the Food and Drug Administration to approve the drug, and Srivastava expects that to happen at the end...

Mitt Romney's wife says she doesn't consider herself to be wealthy. In an interview Monday on Fox News, the wife of the Republican presidential front-runner, Ann Romney, was asked about criticism that her husband can seem out of touch with average Americans. His worth has been estimated as high as $250 million. Mrs. Romney said her struggle with multiple sclerosis has given her compassion for people who are suffering from multiple sclerosis, cancer or other diseases. "We can be poor in spirit, and I don't even consider myself wealthy, which is an interesting thing,"...