DUBOIS – The Clearfield County Commissioners proclaimed the week of April 15 – 29 as Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Awareness Week with an MS Walk being held Sunday, April 29 at Treasure Lake’s Lakeview Lodge and Convention Center.
Participants will check-in at 1 p.m. at the lodge, which is located at 3871 Bay Road Dubois. Then, at 2 p.m., State Rep. Matt Gabler will kick off the MS Walk for the third year straight. For more information, visit the Walk MS: DuBois 2012 online.
According to the proclamation, the county places the highest priority on health-related issues, including the various forms of auto-immune and neurological conditions, which are striking people of all ages, races and walks of life. MS is among the most prevalent, affecting more than 400,000 Americans with an estimated 10,400 new cases each year.
MS challenges the lives of not only those diagnosed with the condition, but also their friends, family and caregivers. Those affected experience approximately $35,000 annually in health costs with these costs exceeding more than $2 million over the MS patient’s lifespan.
A number of non-profit health organizations, such as the National MS Society, are dedicated to eradicating MS and to serving those touched by the condition. “As they work to discover new and more effective treatments, therapies and cures, we applaud their vigorous efforts,” the proclamation states.
The society is dedicated to finding cures for these diseases through medical research, voluntary contributions and public support. In Pennsylvania and Clearfield County, the society serves more than 6,700 people who are living with MS.
At the present time, approximately 400,000 Americans, between the ages of 20 and 50 years old are diagnosed with MS, making it the number one disability of young adults. The county is committed to helping and eradicating all auto-immune and neurological conditions, the proclamation states.
“Clearfield County, its leaders and citizens recognize that good health is a key component of a long, productive and fulfilling life. Clearfield County also encourages private efforts to enhance research funding and educational programs that address MS,” the proclamation states.
“And, it therefore supports observances that raise public awareness concerning the urgent health matters, such as Multiple Sclerosis, with hopes of eliminating all forms of this dreadful disease from our lives.”
About MS
MS is a chronic, often disabling disease that attacks the central nervous system (CNS), which consists of the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves. Its symptoms may be mild, such as numbness in the limbs, or severe, such as paralysis or loss of vision. The progress, severity and specific symptoms vary from person-to-person.
Worldwide, MS is thought to affect more than 2.1 million people. While the disease is not contagious or directly inherited, epidemiologists—the scientists who study patterns of disease—have identified factors in the distribution of MS around the world that may eventually help determine what causes the disease. These factors include gender, genetics, age, geography and ethnic background. According to the National MS Society:
As in other autoimmune diseases, MS is significantly more common (at least two to three times) in women than men. This gender difference has stimulated important research initiatives looking at the role of hormones in MS.
MS is not directly inherited, but genetics play an important role in who gets the disease. While the risk of developing MS in the general population is 1/750, the risk rises to 1/40 in anyone who has a close relative (parent, sibling, child, etc.) with the disease. In families in which several people have been diagnosed with MS, the risk may be even higher. Even though identical twins share the same genetic makeup, the risk for an identical twin is only 1/4—which means that some factor(s) other than genetics are involved.
While most people are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, MS can appear in young children and teens as well as much older adults.
In all parts of the world, MS is more common at northern latitudes that are farther from the equator and less common in areas closer to the equator.
MS occurs in most ethnic groups, including African-Americans, Asians and Hispanics/Latinos, but is more common in Caucasians of northern European ancestry. However some ethnic groups, such as the Inuit, Aborigines and Maoris, have few if any documented cases of MS regardless of where they live. These variations that occur even within geographic areas with the same climate suggest that geography, ethnicity, and other factors interact in some complex way.