• Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is the most common disease of the Central Nervous System, usually diagnosed in young adults. MS is not contagious. The cause of MS is not known.



• Sclerosis means scarring in the Central Nervous System and Multiple means that this may occur at more than one point.



• Scarring means that the myelin sheath, which protects nerves like insulation around an electrical wire, is damaged. A combination of environmental and genetic factors may lead our immune system to attack our own myelin.



• This damage alters the way messages are conducted to and from the brain. Both sensation and the control of muscles may be affected.



• MS can cause different symptoms in different people. Symptoms can come and go. Although there is no cure as yet, many symptoms can be relieved or treated.

With positive information, by getting the right treatments and using all the support available, MS need not be the devastating diagnosis that many people imagine.