About MS
Multiple sclerosis affects the central nervous system (CNS) and can to varying degrees interfere with the transmission of nerve impulses throughout the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves. Recurring episodes of MS can cause many scars to appear in the CNS as a result of the myelin, the insulating material that covers the nerve fibres.
Symptoms of MS include:
- Extreme fatigue
- Impaired vision
- Loss of balance and muscle coordination
- Slurred speech
- Tremors
- Stiffness
- Bladder and bowel problems
- Difficulty walking
- Short-term memory loss
- In severe cases, partial or complete paralysis
MS is a frustratingly unpredictable disease. Episodes can occur at varying time intervals affecting different areas of the central nervous system. There is no one symptom that indicates the presence of MS. No single test can establish an accurate diagnosis.
Although we do not yet understand why some people are susceptible and others are not, we do know that an estimated 18,000 Australians have MS.
Fast Facts
- MS affects three times as many women as men
- The average age of diagnosis is just 30
- 87% of people diagnosed are of working age
- 80% of people with MS lose their job within 10 years of diagnosis
- MS is a chronic, often disabling disease that randomly attacks the central nervous system
- MS is a lifelong disease for which a cure is yet to be found.
- Researchers are making discoveries in treating and understanding MS everyday
- MS costs Australia $2 billion each year
- Australians with MS pay $160 million per year out of their own pockets in health costs
About MS Australia
"MS Australia strives for a world without multiple sclerosis through quality research and for service excellence to people with multiple sclerosis and their carers."
The MS Society to provides services to assist people living with MS such as physiotherapy, access to specialist MS nurses and respite care, whilst also working towards funding research into this mystery illness.
For more information on MS and MS Australia please visit:
www.msaustralia.org.au