MSAA is pleased to announce its latest booklet, About MS. In this second edition, MSAA provides a comprehensive introduction to the development and treatment of MS, along with a great deal of useful information that touches on many aspects of the disease.

The second edition of About MS includes:

• An overview of the history, development, types, and potential causes of MS
• Information on who gets MS, how MS is diagnosed, and how disease activity is evaluated
• Descriptions for treatments for both relapses and long-term disease activity
• And more!

Read an excerpt from About MS here:

Initially, most people with MS experience symptom flare-ups, which are also known as relapses, exacerbations, or attacks. When someone experiences a relapse, he or she may be having new symptoms or an increase in existing symptoms. These usually persist for a short period of time (from a few days to a few months) and afterward may remain symptom-free for periods of months or years. This type of MS is referred to as relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS). Approximately 80 to 85 percent of people with MS are initially diagnosed with this form of the disease.

Over time, RRMS may advance to secondary-progressive MS (SPMS). This form of MS does not have the dramatic variations in symptoms that RRMS does, but rather has a slow, steady progression – with or without relapses. If relapses do occur, they usually do not fully remit. Without treatment, approximately half of individuals with RRMS convert to SPMS within 10 years. However, with the introduction of long-term disease-modifying therapies (DMTs), fewer individuals advance to this latter form of the disease.

Individuals who are not initially diagnosed with RRMS may be experiencing a more steady progression of the disease from the onset. Approximately 10 percent of the MS population is diagnosed with primary-progressive MS (PPMS), where individuals experience a steady worsening of symptoms from the start, and do not have periodic relapses and remissions.

Continue reading this booklet at mymsaa.org/publications/about-ms/ to learn more about multiple sclerosis history, diagnosis, treatments, and resources.