Sure, there are lots of agencies, organizations, and even MS societies out there, but the MS community is still struggling. Although lots of recent research including Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) and Human Endogenous Retrovirus type W (HERV-W) envelope protein research has brought us much closer, we still don’t have definitive evidence of the exact cause of MS. And the truth is that without knowing what causes a problem, there’s not going to be much success in trying to fix it. How long will we wait for a cure? Without answers on the cause, it may be a while. In the meantime, we can evaluate the research that has provided clues about it and develop a management strategy that agrees.

As people who are affected by MS, the medical obstacles we face directly impact not only us, but also our caretakers’ abilities to work and function daily. Even those of us living with relapsing-remitting MS who are still able to walk, bathe ourselves, and cook our meals struggle with maintaining gainful employment because we live in a state of perpetual brain fog, suffer from random bouts of debilitating fatigue, cognitive problems, bladder issues, and a host of seemingly invisible symptoms that people on the outside don’t recognize.

In the United States, we are required to purchase health insurance to cover our medical needs, but they aren’t always addressed. Our insurance is generally suitable for situations like yearly checkups, getting prescriptions when we fall ill, and emergencies, but there are always co-pays and hidden out-of-pocket costs when we visit the doctor, and we don’t discuss how to prevent or manage long-term illness with our physicians. Although we have made great strides and progress in our research developing disease-modifying therapies (DMTs), they are costly, help some but not all, don’t target the root of our condition, and can cause us to have serious unbearable side effects. Some of us have tried all of the available DMTs and are left without treatment options. Yet if we use alternative therapies that have been shown to help manage our condition, it is difficult to gain support from our doctors, and we are left to provide medically necessary services out-of-pocket, which is difficult to afford because of the effects of disability.

It has been shown in research that certain dietary factors and supplements can be used to stabilize ongoing conditions such as MS, slow the progression of the disease, induce remission, and even regenerate and remyelinate the brain. Although specific dietary factors and supplements can be used as medicine to help manage our condition, it is too costly to maintain remission, and most of us can’t afford it because our disability affects both us and our caretakers. We can’t afford to pay hundreds of dollars in out-of-pocket expenses each month in order to maintain remission. Educating the MS community on how to manage the condition is an unmet need we hope to provide.

What are your unmet needs? One of the goals of the Global MS Society is to be the voice for people who suffer from MS and other conditions with these same problems, and we hope that these educational efforts will be fruitful. In the meantime, with donations we receive from our supporters, we will step up and meet this need. As we learn about the current needs of the global MS community and educate each other on how to manage the condition, our goal is to help you enjoy a better quality of life. We bring a message of hope to the MS community. Please share your needs with us so we know how to help you… together, we are stronger.