Multiple Sclerosis International Federation (MSIF) calls for urgent action and better treatments to be made available in India to address the ever increasing cases of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in India. With more evidence gathering that genetic susceptibility for MS among Indians may be similar to that for white populations, experts fear different clinical manifestations of multiple sclerosis likely to be present in the Indian population with increase detection rates and awareness in the coming decade.
Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a nerve disease, whose cause and cure is yet unknown, is slowly gaining ground in India and other Asian countries like China with the same severity like in the west.
This was disclosed at the concluding knowledge forum of the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation (MSIF) summit where leading Multiple Sclerosis (MS) specialists from USA, UK and India addressed a gathering of approximately 400 persons that included delegates from 48 countries, special invitees from the government, donors, supporters from corporate houses and the city’s select.
Experts revealed that although there was no cure for multiple sclerosis, there is a great deal of ongoing research in multiple sclerosis, and there continues to be a focus on the immune system in investigational therapies. There are many drugs that can slow down the progression of the disease. Disease Modifying Drugs – DMDs – are drugs which affect the long-term progression of MS. In addition, scientists are trying to develop techniques that allow brain cells to generate new myelin (nerve layer) or that prevent the death of nerves.
Other promising approaches include the use of precursor cells that could be implanted into the brain or spinal cord to repopulate areas of missing cells and new methods to improve impulses traveling over the damaged nerves. Scientists also are exploring the effects of diet and other environmental factors on multiple sclerosis.
More than two lakh people in India are estimated to have multiple sclerosis. Usually, a person is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis between 20 and 50 years of age, but multiple sclerosis has been diagnosed in children and in the elderly. Women are twice as likely as men to be affected by multiple sclerosis earlier in life.
According to Dr M V Padma, neurologist, AIIMS, “The symptoms of multiple sclerosis can be so mild and so infrequent that the sufferer may never know they have the disease. With detection rates rising we are confident patients of multiple sclerosis can live longer and healthier if they undergo early diagnosis and treatment instead of waiting until the disease has progressed. The advent of newer imaging techniques like MRI has added a new dimension to the diagnostic possibilities and needs to be taken advantage of, as they are a great value in detecting such cases.”
Doctors still do not understand what causes multiple sclerosis, but there are interesting data that suggest that genetics, a person's environment, and possibly even a virus may play a role.
Dr B S Singhal, professor and head, Department of neurology, Bombay Hospital, “MS is an auto-immune disease in which the body attacks its own cells and tissues. It occurs as a result of immune damage to the myelin sheath which insulates the central nervous system’s nerve fibers. This damage blocks the passage of nerve impulses from the brain to other parts of the body. The disease primarily attacks youths during the most productive years of their lives. Since the disease has no cure it needs to be managed with exercise and medications that help delay the progression of the disease by controlling its symptoms. If MS is left untreated, patients may eventually develop severe and irreversible disabilities.”
The Multiple Sclerosis Society of India (MSSI) is a charitable, non-profit voluntary organisation founded in the year 1985. It works with the MSIF for the welfare of persons afflicted with Multiple Sclerosis in India.