The effects of multiple sclerosis

The article headline Multiple Sclerosis Patients Can Live Life To The Full (May 23) is, I am afraid, misleading, even if stated at a medical conference. It needs to be corrected.

The effect of MS on different persons depends on its severity. While it is true that some persons with MS can continue to live life almost to the full, the reality is that, for many, it is a case of increased debility and tiredness after every attack; the worst affected are confined to a wheelchair (30 per cent of cases) or a bed (10 per cent of cases) in the space of a few short years.

Because MS is a disease which drags on for many years it causes physical pain, psychological distress and financial hardship not only to the patients but to all the members of their families.

We are somewhat disappointed that the organisers of what was otherwise an excellent symposium on multiple sclerosis presented to the audience three carefully chosen persons with MS, who obviously met the advertising requirements of a certain medication, having responded well to the said medication.

Our society feels that a more balanced approach would have provided a clearer picture of the real effects of MS and what current medication can or cannot achieve in controlling the disease. As things stand there is no cure for MS and only 35 per cent of patients respond to available medication. The remaining 65 per cent have no disease-modifying treatment that they respond to.