A vision of a world free from the effects of multiple sclerosis – Open Access Government

Over 130,000 people live with multiple sclerosis (MS) in the UK, and a diagnosis can have a profound impact. But research has got us to a critical point, and we believe were now on the cusp of a major research breakthrough.

Most people will first experience MS symptoms in their 20s and 30s when theyre working on their career, or perhaps thinking about starting a family. The condition affects everyone differently, but it can be relentless, painful and disabling.

The nerves in our central nervous system send messages around the body and control everything we do. They enable us to do everyday things, like walk, talk, eat and think. But in MS, the immune system mistakenly attacks myelin the protective coating around the nerves causing damage. This means messages in the brain and spinal cord struggle to get through or cant get through at all which can lead to a wide range of symptoms, including muscle spasms, pain, fatigue, and bladder and vision problems.

Most people with MS are initially diagnosed with the relapsing form, where their symptoms come and go. Over time though, many people will transition to secondary progressive MS, where disability gets steadily worse. Around 15% of people are diagnosed with primary progressive MS, where disability progresses from the outset, rather than appearing as sudden attacks.

We have made huge progress in MS research over the last 30 years. We now have over a dozen licensed treatments for people with the relapsing form of the condition, and some are emerging for progressive MS. Weve also made significant headway in understanding the causes and factors that influence someones risk of developing MS.

Since we were founded in 1956, weve invested nearly 230 million in todays money into high-quality MS research. We work closely with people with MS and healthcare professionals to ensure that all of the research we fund will have the biggest possible impact on peoples lives. And people with MS have told us that their number one priority is to slow or stop the progression of their disability.

The existing treatments we have for MS are able to target rogue immune activity, reducing the damage to myelin. However, we still dont have treatments that can replace the lost myelin or protect nerves from damage. To really stop MS and stop disability progression, we need to find treatments that can do both these things.

Clinical trials have given us a variety of treatments for many people with MS, but there are still tens of thou- sands of people who dont have access to disease modifying treatments. While we know all too well that trials can take many years to complete, and there is a high risk of failure, we also know that people with MS cannot wait which is why weve been working on ways to speed up clinical trials and get much needed new drugs to people, faster.

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A vision of a world free from the effects of multiple sclerosis - Open Access Government