Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week

Wednesday, March 10, Mayor Fred Rodabaugh announced a proclamation naming March 8-14 Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week in Bluffton. March is MS Awareness Month in Ohio.

 

For its population, Bluffton has an unusually high number of residents with Multiple Sclerosis.

 

“For how big Bluffton is, statistically there should only be one person with MS,” said Tracy Steele. “There are about 30 or 40 that I know of; there could be more.”

 

Steele went on to explain that people often keep their MS a secret, fearing job loss or insurance repercussions.

 

Multiple Sclerosis interrupts the flow of information between the brain and the body. MS is an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. Symptoms range from numbness to tingling to blindness and paralysis. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with more than twice as many women as men being diagnosed. MS affects more than 3,400 in Northwest Ohio, 400,000 people in the United States and 2.5 million worldwide.

 

Local public libraries will be combining their efforts with the area MS Chapter by placing displays offering further awareness and education.