MS Walks set for Sunday in Coral Gables, Aventura

On the eve of two community MS Walks Sunday in Coral Gables and Aventura, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, South Florida Chapter is announcing a new partnership with the University of Miami medical school to treat those living with the disease.

The National MS Societys partnership with the MS Center of Excellence and John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics, headed by Dr. Margaret Pericak-Vance, will offer 24-hour patient care, a clinical research center, a team of neurologists, international genetic research and MS genetic registry, educational programs and more on UMs medical campus in Miami.

Theres a great need for a center of comprehensive treatment mainly because the care of MS patients is very specialized, its almost become like oncology, said Dr. Kottil Rammohan, a professor of clinical neurology at the University of Miami and the director of the MS Center, which has branches in Hialeah, Kendall, Plantation and Boca Raton.

The treatments are very complex and so what we hope to have is a center available for Central and South Florida but also to become a major center for Latin American patients coming through Miami as well, Rammohan added.

Multiple sclerosis is a disease of the nervous system that causes an interruption of the flow of information from brain to body and can rob patients of mobility. It affects 400,000 people in the United States. Every hour someone is newly diagnosed with MS which impacts women at double the rate for men. Most people with MS are diagnosed between 20 and 50.

We are very excited about the direction of genetic research in MS, said Pericak-Vance in a release. Our current research has the potential to identify new therapeutic targets.

One of the main features of the new center will be its function as a research hub in which patients can volunteer to take part in studies. Thats a huge part of our operation, Rammohan said. Its a sad disease. It affects young people who are just getting started with their lives and this comes on. But its not like the old days where there was not a lot you could do for it. Now there is all sorts of treatment. Like diabetes, you can take care of it.

There is no cure for MS, but it is treatable.

The new center at UM will also employ a team of social workers to help patients and families cope with the disease.

When patients receive a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis and the uncertainties that accompany the disease, they need to know where to turn to for care. To have a center of this magnitude aligned with MS research allows us to serve our people and lessen the burden of living with this disease, said Rammohan.

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MS Walks set for Sunday in Coral Gables, Aventura