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What is MS?
What happens to people who have MS?
Who gets MS?
Is there a cure?
Can I catch MS?
Why is it important to know about MS?
What does MS Australia do?
What can I do to help people with MS?
What is MS?
MS stands for multiple sclerosis. Sclerosis is a Greek word meaning scars, and multiple means many, so an easy way to remember it is that MS also means ‘many scars’.
MS affects the brain and spinal cord, which is called the Central Nervous System. Your brain sends messages to your body telling it what to do, just like a computer. Messages travel from the brain down the spinal cord and nerves to all the different parts of your body. In people who have MS, the messages get interrupted by small scars on the myelin, which coats the nerve fibres.
This means that the messages trying to get to different parts of the body might not go through properly. So putting on your shoes, walking to the shop, or even balancing, can be more difficult for people with MS.
There are different types of MS. Some people can experience symptoms but then get better. This is called relapsing/remitting MS.
Some people experience symptoms that keep getting worse. This is called progressive MS.
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What happens to people who have MS?
There are lots of different things that can happen to people who have MS. Not everyone with MS will get the same symptoms and they can come and go. This is part of the mystery of MS.
Some of the different types of symptoms can include:
- Feeling very tired
- Having trouble walking
- Losing your balance
- Blurred vision
- Feeling pins and needles
- Weak arms and legs
- Shaky hands
- Speech difficulties
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Who gets MS?
Three times as many women as men get MS, and most people who are diagnosed with MS are between the ages of 20 and 40.
The closer places to the equator have fewer cases of MS. Tasmania, being the furthest Australian state from the equator, has the highest percentage of people with MS in Australia.
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Is there a cure?
Sadly, there is no cure yet. Scientists and doctors are working very hard to find one.
The good news is that there are now some medicines available that can help people who are living with MS.
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Can I catch MS?
No. MS is not catching or contagious.
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Why is it important to know about MS?
There is no cure for MS, and currently, 18,000 Australians have MS.
Young adults (between 20 – 40 years of age) are the most likely to get MS. This is often when they are trying to build a career, have a family, or just enjoy living their lives fully. The cost of MS and the emotional pain affects a lot of people – not just the person with MS, but also their family, friends and carers.
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What does MS Australia do?
MS Australia as well as the other state societies provides many services for people living with MS such as:
- Funds for research into finding a cure.
- Client services to help people with MS
- Public education to help everyone learn more about this mystery disease
- Programs and support for people newly diagnosed with MS.
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What can I do to help people with MS?
The money you raise when you take part in the MS Readathon goes to help people in Australia living with MS. So when you read and fundraise as much as you can, it is a big help.
There are also other ways you and your family can help MS Australia.
- Get your friends to do the MS Readathon
- Learn the facts about MS and share them with everyone you know, so that more people know about MS
- Meet someone with MS and learn their story, to get a better idea of what it is really like to live with MS
- Volunteer for your local MS Society
- Attend other MS Society fundraising events in your state
Click here to find out how your MS Readathon sponsor money can change the life of someone who has MS.
Click here to read our MS fact sheet.
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