The Facts
- Of over 2 million people with MS worldwide, MS currently affects over 100,000 Britons and 23,000 Australians
- Most people are diagnosed between the age of 20 and 40
- Three quarters of those are women
- It is the most common neurological condition among young adults today
- It is an auto immune disease of the central nervous system (brain and spinal column) where the body attacks myelin, the protective sheath surrounding nerve fibres, resulting in disrupted messages from the brain to other parts of the body
- Symptoms vary from person to person depending on where the sclerosis (or scarring episode) occurs but can include slurring of speech, cognitive difficulties, impaired vision, fatigue, vertigo, nausea, extreme pain, altered sensation and loss of balance and coordination
- There are two main types of MS. They are relapsing-remitting MS, characterised by periods of relapse and remission, and progressive MS, which is characterised by progressive deterioration without remissions.
- There is no cure
Personal perspective
The facts about MS make uncomfortable reading, no doubt. But living with it is something else again.
MS affects every person with MS differently. Some go blind temporarily, maybe permanently, after some time. Many have trouble walking, either from weakness in their legs or because of balance problems, very possibly both. Many suffer chronic pain in various parts of their bodies. Some have constant nausea. Many suffer from cognitive issues, some mild, some less so. Some suffer from bladder and/or bowel problems. Crippling, disabling fatigue is a very common symptom. In short, because MS is a disease of the central nervous system, it can affect just about everything in the body.
I have said before that MS challenges who you are because it won’t let you be who you were. Part of the personal battle against MS is a battle to define yourself. I have chosen to fight MS by helping to raise funds for research because it is only with a cure that we can be free. Raising funds for research allows my friends and I to feel that we are taking control over something over which we have no control. It’s our way of fighting back.
Without my gorgeous wife, Katrina, and our friends this fight would be too hard. So I welcome any support you can give us and, on behalf of the more than 2 million people globally who have MS, I thank you.
Mike Hemingway – person with MS.
For many detailed information about MS click on the following links:
Multiple Sclerosis Society UK
Multiple Sclerosis Research Australia (MSRA)
MS Australia
http://www.msaustralia.org.au/
Coast2Coast MS Walk 2014 