Every day someone in Austria falls ill with multiple sclerosis, or MS for short. Women are affected three times more often than men. Around 2.8 million people worldwide are ill, in Austria around 13,000. In Upper Austria, around 2,300 people live with this diagnosis.
“Now, after the end of the pandemic, the patients finally have the opportunity to meet in person in the respective self-help clubs,” says Michael Guger, President of the Upper Austrian MS Society and primary neurologist at the Pyhrn-Eisenwurzen Klinikum Steyr . The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Upper Austria offers the opportunity for exchange in the various regions of the country. More information can be found at multiplesklerose-ooe.at.
“We have comprehensive, local care for multiple sclerosis patients in Upper Austria and certified centers throughout the country. The Salzkammergut Klinikum Bad Ischl has had its own MS ward for rehabilitation for more than 30 years. The care of MS patients is very important. Patients and their relatives through the MS society,” says Deputy Governor Christine Haberlander (VP).
Multiple sclerosis is caused by a malfunction in the immune system. This creates inflammatory foci in different parts of the brain – this also explains the different symptoms of this “disease with 1000 faces”, which is diagnosed most frequently in people between 40 and 45 years of age. Some sufferers see double vision, others feel tingling in their limbs, and still others speak of numbness all over their body. The diagnosis is made with an MRI scan.
Thanks to medical advances, only every tenth patient newly diagnosed today is partially or permanently dependent on a wheelchair during the course of the disease. Tremendous advances have been made in the treatment of this disease over the past decade.
