Flag raising marks MS Awareness Month

PRINCE GEORGE — May is Multiple Scleroris Awareness Month and to mark the occasion there was a flag raising at City Hall this morning (May 1).

Canada has one of the highest rates of MS in the world with an estimated 90,000 Canadians living with the disease. On average, 12 Canadians are diagnosed with MS every day. Most people are diagnosed with MS between the ages of 20 and 49 and the unpredictable effects of the disease will last for the rest of their lives.

MS is a neurological disease of the central nervous system (CNS) which includes the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves. In MS, the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks myelin, the protective covering of nerve fibres. Myelin is needed to effectively send messages to and from the brain. Damage to the myelin can result in loss of nerve fibres and over time, these changes contribute to disease progression.