We won’t rest until we find a cure for Multiple Sclerosis (MS).  MS is a chronic disease affecting at least 700,000 people in Europe.  One statistic is particularly impactful – after traffic accidents, MS is the greatest cause of disability in young people between 20-and 40, especially women.  Types of MS include Relapsing Remitting MS (RRMS), and Primary Progressive MS (PPMS), which make up the vast majority of cases.  85% of patients suffer from RRMS, and have distinct attacks of symptoms (relapses) followed by partial or complete recovery.

The good news is that over the past 20 years, the treatment of MS has transformed.  Up until the mid-1990s, there were no real disease modifying treatments for MS, and today there are more than a dozen treatments available. That is tremendous progress in a very short amount of time.  However, more needs to be done.  MS is not one disease, but many.  Not only are there different types of MS, but the complex nature of MS means each patient responds differently to treatment.  We still cannot reverse, or halt entirely, MS disease progression – only slow it down. 

We must continue to work on research to identify unique mechanisms of action for treating MS, such as re-myelination therapies that could possibly repair damage.  We’ll continue to push towards a future where everyone with MS has a timely diagnosis, where people with MS receive the right treatment at the right time, and live with as few limitations as possible until we find a cure and, in the words of the European Multiple Sclerosis Platform, a World without MS.