{"id":3208,"date":"2022-05-26T15:03:10","date_gmt":"2022-05-26T14:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/touchmedicalmedia.com\/?p=3208"},"modified":"2022-05-26T15:03:10","modified_gmt":"2022-05-26T14:03:10","slug":"world-ms-day-never-give-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/touchmedicalmedia.com\/news\/world-ms-day-never-give-up\/","title":{"rendered":"World MS Day: Never give up"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cOn World MS Day, my thoughts go to the 2.8 million people living with the disease and their families and carers. I have learned a lot of lessons from them, the most important of which is <\/span><\/i>never to give up<\/i><\/b>.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2013 Prof. Cris S Constantinescu, Neurologist, Cooper Neurological Institute, Cherry Hill, NJ, USA & Emeritus Professor, Academic Unit of Mental Health and Clinical Neuroscience, University of Nottingham, UK<\/span><\/p>\n

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a lifelong disease that causes the immune system to attack the lining that protects the nerve fibres (myelin) in the central nervous system. This damage prevents messages from travelling easily between the brain and the body, causing debilitating symptoms with vision, memory, balance and emotions.<\/span><\/p>\n

While there\u2019s currently no cure, <\/span>treatments are available to manage the condition<\/span><\/a><\/span>. As <\/span>Prof<\/b>. <\/span>Cris S Constantinescu<\/b> of University of Nottingham notes:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe perspectives of living with MS are more optimistic than ever. There have been great advances in diagnosis and treatment, both of which can be sped up. Emerging prognostic biomarkers increasingly allow tailoring the treatment to the predicted outcome.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This progress is symptom- and form-dependant, however, meaning:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMuch work is still needed \u2026 in the management of progressive forms, including regenerative therapies, and in the treatment of symptoms, including cognitive dysfunction, where \u2013 paradoxically \u2013 the progress has been slower.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Early disease-modifying therapy will likely prevent the development of symptoms, but symptoms remain a challenge for the many who already experience them daily.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, while there have been exciting advances in the science, there\u2019s lots more work to do.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s why every year, <\/span>World MS Day<\/b><\/a><\/span> is celebrated on 30 May.<\/span><\/p>\n

Coordinated by the MS International Federation and its members, their global awareness campaign <\/span>#MSConnections<\/b> encourages people to share their stories, spread the word through <\/span>posters<\/span><\/a><\/span> and the <\/span>Connections toolkit<\/span><\/a><\/span>, and \u2013 <\/span>importantly <\/span><\/i>\u2013 fundraise to help accelerate progression of life-changing MS therapies.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prof. Cris S. Constantinescu is enthusiastic about where greater awareness and funding is taking MS treatments:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe can now start talking more seriously about MS prevention. There is real optimism that reducing environmental risk factors (vaccination against the Epstein Barr virus, education to prevent smoking, vitamin D supplementation, healthy diet) combined with early effective treatment can lead to a quasi-eradication of MS.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Discover some of the recent advances in MS therapy below:<\/span><\/p>\n