Recently, MSAA has partnered with MultipleSclerosis.net, and now we’d like to offer them a warm welcome. Since we first met the MultipleSclerosis.net staff, we have consistently been impressed with their willingness to share in our mission of improving lives today. Last week, we had the opportunity to detail our programs and services to their community. Today, we are pleased to introduce them as a regular contributor to our MS Conversations blog.

MultipleSclerosis.net is intended to provide thoroughly-reviewed and accurate information to people with MS and their caregivers, and we invite you to read more about it in today’s blog entry. We hope you’ll find their platform as empowering and educational as we did.  

Launched in March of this year, the website MultipleSclerosis.net has rapidly grown to become one of the largest and fastest growing websites dedicated exclusively to Multiple Sclerosis patients and caregivers. We are happy to partner with MSAA to give a broader reach to the excellent work that MSAA does every day to improve the lives of people impacted by MS, and we look forward to being a regular contributor here.

Produced by Health Union, LLC, the company that also develops Migraine.com and RheumatoidArthritis.Net, MultipleSclerosis.net features hundreds of pages of fully-referenced original content on such topics as understanding the basics of MS, to more advanced topics like diagnosis, symptoms, treatment and an overview of MS Research. The site also features forums where users can discuss a wide range of topics specific to MS.

In addition to this in-depth content, MultipleSclerosis.net has assembled a diverse team of patient advocate bloggers; people with MS and/or caregivers of those with MS who write frequently on real-life topics related to their lives with MS. How it impacts them personally, how it impacts their relationships with others, and stories of their own personal trials and tribulations of a life with MS.

           Lastly, MultipleSclerosis.net runs polls and surveys on the site. On survey, “MS in America” was an in-depth survey taken by over 3,000 MS patients. We asked participants of the MS in America study about their early experiences with MS symptoms and diagnosis.  A majority of survey participants first experienced MS-related symptoms  (including symptoms that were later identified as being related to MS) in their 20’s or 30’s. Still, most respondents were not diagnosed with MS until almost a                                                                                            decade later.

This is just the tip of the iceberg; further results of the MS in America study

are posted on MultipleSclerosis.net and we will continue to conduct large patient surveys to further enhance the understanding of the impact of MS on people’s lives.

So in the future, we will be bringing highlights from our polls, surveys, stories and blogs here to share, but first we wanted to introduce yourselves and welcome you to join the MultipleSclerosis.net community. We look forward to contributing here.