Rocky Mount declares MS Awareness Week

Mayor Combs has issued a proclamation declaring March 12-18 Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week in Rocky Mount. Multiple sclerosis affects more than 13,500 people throughout the Carolinas, said Jen Gawler, PR and Marketing Manager for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Greater Carolinas Chapter. The City of Rocky Mount encourages all citizens to contribute to efforts to find a cure for this disease.

The Greater Carolinas Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society is asking everyone to JOIN THE MOVEMENT to end MS now.

Rocky Mount residents can show their commitment to the MS movement with simple actions throughout the week.

To find out ways to join the movement, and encourage others to join too, visit nationalMSsociety.org/nct:

We encourage anyone in our community who has multiple sclerosis, or who has a family member with MS, to learn more about the resources, programs, information and support available through the National MS Society and other similar agencies, Gawler said.

Multiple sclerosis, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system, interrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain and body.

We are grateful that the City of Rocky Mount has chosen to support our efforts to create a world free of MS, said Jeff Furst, president of the Greater Carolinas Chapter of the National MS Society. MS is the number one disabling disease among young adults, striking them in the prime of their life. The National MS Society furthers cutting-edge research and provides vital programs and services for those living with multiple sclerosis in your community.

Every hour in the United States, someone is newly diagnosed with the disease. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of multiple sclerosis in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are moving us closer to a world free of multiple sclerosis. Most people with multiple sclerosis are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with at least two to three times more women than men being diagnosed with the disease. MS affects more than 400,000 people in the U.S. and over 2.1 million worldwide.

Multiple sclerosis stops people from moving. The National MS Society exists to make sure it doesnt. The Greater Carolinas Chapter serves 13,500 individuals affected by multiple sclerosis in 82 counties in North Carolina and all of South Carolina.

Headquartered in Raleigh with an additional office in Charlotte, we help each person address the challenges of living with multiple sclerosis through programs, services and research funding. In 2010 alone, the society devoted $159 million to programs and services that assisted more than 1 million people.

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Rocky Mount declares MS Awareness Week