MARCH is MS Awareness Month – Take Action

March 2013 National MS Awareness and Education Month

The VA Multiple Sclerosis Centers of Excellence would like to remind you that March is National Multiple Sclerosis Education and Awareness Month.

We would like to encourage Veterans with MS and their families to partner with local health care providers, VA Medical Centers, and your community to plan something special during MS Awareness Month.
 
Optimism Shines In My Moon Shadow (multiple sclerosis)
 

 
 
Remember:

• The National Multiple Sclerosis Society is sponsoring March 11-17 as MS Awareness Week. The NMSS website has more information on this project as well as free educational materials. Please check with your local and state chapters for additional activities planned for March.
• The Multiple Sclerosis Association of America (MSAA) has a useful calendar of activities organized by region. MSAA provides educational materials free of charge for distribution to patients and families.

Some suggestions to get involved:

• Contact MS organizations: Ask the organizations listed above for free materials and distribute them to your family, friends, local businesses and communities.
• Contact the VA: Ask your local VA Medical Center’s Public Relations Department for assistance with having this month recognized for MS Awareness.
• Volunteer at the VA: Check with your local VA Medical Center’s Voluntary Services department to see how you can volunteer your time. There are opportunities available for people of all ability levels, skill sets and career backgrounds.
• Volunteer at your local Veteran Service Organization: There are several VSOs like the Paralyzed Veterans of America, Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and other state and local nonprofit organizations that you can volunteer your time to raise MS awareness.
• Write a letter to the editor: Write a short letter to your local newspaper explaining why it’s important that we raise the awareness of MS.
• Register for a MS event: Help raise community awareness of this disease by participating in MS events like walk-a-thons and bike-a-thons.
• Join a MS Support Group: You can join a MS Support Group online like MSWorld at www.msworld.com or at your local VA or community center.
• Include an email tagline: Add to all of your emails, March is MS Awareness Month to encourage discussion.
• Conduct a Facebook campaign: Ask your friends to dedicate their status or profile picture to the cause of MS awareness.
• Make some lifestyle changes: Talk to your healthcare provider about life style habits that could help you manage your MS like joining a smoking cessation program, making healthy diet choices, and participating in an exercise program.

The most important message is to help raise MS awareness by getting involved with your VA and local community.

As you move through your MS Journey become an active participant in sharing with others about the disease, and accessing the variety of resources that will help you take an active role in managing your health and increase your quality of life.

 

Understanding eliminates fear;

Understanding yields compassion.

 
Multiple sclerosis (MS), also known as “disseminated sclerosis” or “encephalomyelitis disseminata“, is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms. Disease onset usually occurs in young adults, and it is more common in women. It has a prevalence that ranges between 2 and 150 per 100,000.

MS was first described in 1868 by Jean-Martin Charcot.

Charcot’s primary focus was neurology. He named and was the first to describe multiple sclerosis. Summarizing previous reports and adding his own clinical and pathological observations, Charcot called the disease ‘sclerose en plaques’.

The three signs of Multiple sclerosis now known as Charcot’s triad 1 are; ‘nystagmus, intention tremor, and telegraphic speech‘; though these are not unique to MS. Charcot also observed cognition changes, describing his patients as having a “marked enfeeblement of the memory” and “conceptions that formed slowly“.

Charcot uses hypnotism to treat hysteria and other abnormal mental conditions. (All materials from “Iconographie photographique de la Salpêtrière” (Jean Martin Charcot, 1878)

He was also the first to describe a disorder known as Charcot joint or Charcot arthropathy, a degeneration of joint surfaces resulting from loss of proprioception. He researched the functions of different parts of the brain and the role of arteries in cerebral hemorrhage.

Charcot was among the first to describe Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT). The announcement was made simultaneously with Pierre Marie of France (his resident) and Howard Henry Tooth of England. The disease is also sometimes called peroneal muscular atrophy.

Charcot’s studies between 1868 and 1881 were a landmark in the understanding of Parkinson’s disease. Among other advances he made the distinction between rigidity, weakness and bradykinesia. He also led the disease, which was formerly named paralysis agitans (shaking palsy), to be renamed on behalf of James Parkinson.

MS affects the ability of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord to communicate with each other effectively. Nerve cells communicate by sending electrical signals called action potentials down long fibers called axons, which are contained within an insulating substance called myelin.

In MS, the body’s own immune system attacks and damages the myelin. When myelin is lost, the axons can no longer effectively conduct signals. The name multiple sclerosis refers to scars (sclerae-—better known as plaques or lesions) particularly in the white matter of the brain and spinal cord, which is mainly composed of myelin.

Although much is known about the mechanisms involved in the disease process, the cause remains unknown.

Theories include genetics or infections.

Different environmental risk factors have also been found.

Almost any neurological symptom can appear with the disease, and the disease often progresses to physical and cognitive disability. MS takes several forms, with new symptoms occurring either in discrete attacks (relapsing forms) or accumulating over time (progressive forms). Between attacks, symptoms may go away completely, but permanent neurological deficits often occur, especially as the disease advances.

There is no known cure for multiple sclerosis.

Treatments attempt to return function after an attack, prevent new attacks, and prevent disability.

MS medications can have adverse effects or be poorly tolerated, and many people pursue alternative treatments, despite the lack of supporting scientific study. The prognosis is difficult to predict; it depends on the sub-type of the disease, the individual’s disease characteristics, the initial symptoms and the degree of disability the person experiences as time advances.

Life expectancy of people with MS is 5 to 10 years lower than that of the unaffected population.

The Multiple Sclerosis International Federation (MSIF) was established in 1967 as an international body linking the activities of national MS societies around the world.

The Federation seeks to work in worldwide partnership with Member Societies and the international scientific community to eliminate multiple sclerosis and its consequences, and to speak out globally on behalf of those affected by multiple sclerosis.

MSIF works to achieve this through the following key priorities:

• International research
• Development of new and existing societies
• Exchange of information
• Advocacy

Since establishment in 1967, MSIF has grown to link the work of 43 Member MS Societies worldwide.

MSIF is in touch with many other emerging societies and aims to support all MS societies in their development. MSIF has a budget of around 1 million pounds per year, with most funding coming from Member Societies and charitable foundations. Around a quarter of income comes from the health care industry.

In Cooperation with the World Health Organization, MSIF has published the most extensive source of global data about the epidemiology of MS: The Atlas of MS.

With a team of interested Member MS Societies, MSIF supports the International Pediatric MS Study Group (IPMSSG) – a group of medical professionals from all continents working to improve the treatment of children with MS and to undertake international research into childhood MS.

Since May 2009, MSIF has organized a World Multiple Sclerosis Day, which are now supported by MS organizations in at least 47 countries.

The purpose of the day is to “raise awareness of MS as a global issue and raise funds to support the work of the [global MS] movement including MS research.”

Get Involved

When MS Gets You Down, Don’t Give Up ~ ‘A.D.A.P.T.: Assess, Decide, Adjust, Prepare, and Try’

“When MS Gets You Down, Don’t Give Up: A.D.A.P.T” is the MSF’s theme for the 2013 National MS Education and Awareness Month (NMSEAM) in March.

• Assess: What are your unmet needs? What forced changes have negatively impacted your quality of life? Are there alternatives to achieve what you want?
• Decide: Establish your priorities, consider your options, and develop a game plan for reaching your goals. And remember, even small adaptations can make a big impact.
• Adjust: Before you begin, improve your odds of succeeding by revising your perception of the situation and your abilities. Your “attitude adjustment” will help you see all the possibilities.
• Prepare: Gather the tools or the training you will need to carry out your mission.
• Try: Do your best! Frustrated? “Try, try again.” Seek support!

PHOTO: Respecting the privacy of those who contact me, please know all emails and other communications are completely confidential. My prayers, support, and advice are not a substitutes for psychological, or medical advice. I am a Spiritual Advisor, Reiki Master, and Ordained Minister who aspires to support others on their pathway towards healing. May You Be Blessed, “Dragonfly Whisperer”.
http://www.gossamerheart.com/
 

“Before” and “After” Adapting to MS Initiative

Give an example of how you have continued to fulfill a need in your life by adapting when MS got in the way. Use words to paint a “Before” and “After” picture of the situation, explaining how MS interfered and what you did to overcome the obstacle. You can do it!

For example:

• Before: Music was my life. I played the cello in the local symphony and enjoyed performing before large audiences in the city.
• After: MS fatigue and leg spasticity forced me to retire from the symphony. Though I am now on disability, music still is my life. Only now, from my scooter, I play a portable keyboard and entertain seniors in the local nursing homes and conduct sing-a-longs of their favorite tunes.

SEND YOUR “Befores” and “Afters” HERE.

To learn more or to receive a MS Awareness Kit,

email [email protected] or call 800-225-6495.

 

Aimed to create a “pay-it-forward” ripple of positive action, our sister charitable organization, registered here in Canada to work globally, A Celebration of Women™ Foundation Inc., was born to shape a better world through building residential homes that are mandated to enable the education of young women, support self sustainable programs, graduating future women leaders.     

ALL FOUNDATION DONATIONS ACCEPTED HERE