Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week to be held March 14 to 20

From March 14 to 20, hundreds of thousands of people will participate in Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week. The week is devoted to increasing knowledge and understanding of multiple sclerosis (MS) and the people affected by the disease.

There are many ways you can get involved in MS Awareness Week for the National MS Society, Minnesota Chapter. One way is to learn what a diagnosis of MS means and how MS affects families in your community. Another way is to sign up to participate in Walk MS Alexandria to raise funds for programs, services and cutting-edge MS research.

Walk MS Alexandria will take place May 1 at City Park and will bring together people who care about MS to celebrate hope for the future. Learn more at walkmsminnesota.org.

This year’s Walk MS Alexandria ambassador is Lindsay Quinn. Quinn anticipated her MS diagnosis and knew she could take action to do something about it. She said MS has been a blessing for her, through all the people she has met and how she has become more proactive and passionate about the cause. By becoming a National MS Society event ambassador, Quinn has helped spread awareness about multiple sclerosis.

Visit MSsociety.org to learn more about MS, MS Awareness Week activities and local Walk MS events throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin.

About multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis interrupts the flow of information between the brain and the body and stops people from moving. Every hour in the United States, someone is diagnosed with MS — an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system.

Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are moving us closer to an MS-free world.

Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with more than twice as many women as men affected by the disease. More than 400,000 people in the United States and 2.5 million worldwide live with MS.

Tags: ms week, news