CHENNAI: Through skit and dance, The Chennai Chapter of Multiple Sclerosis Society of India (MSSI), in association with Anna University Cultural group and Naataka Vruksha, sensitised passengers at the domestic arrival of Chennai International Airport, Meenambakkam, on multiple sclerosis (MS).
May 30 is observed as World Multiple Sclerosis Day, aimed to raise awareness and provide support for those affected by the disease. The members interacted with the crowd, talking to them about multiple sclerosis and handing out pamphlets.
The programme was conducted on two days. A skit was performed in the departure lounge of the airport on the evening of May 28 by the Anna University cultural group and THEATRON, the theatre club of College of Engineering, Guindy, Anna University. At the arrival lounge, a skit and a dance were presented in the evening of May 30 where the enthusiastic crowd was apprised of the support they could expect from MS. The disease has a remedy, and that message was sent across.
MS is a disease of the central nervous system, affecting its functioning unexpectedly and repeatedly, resulting in devastating disabilities in young people in the prime of their lives. It has various symptoms ranging from minor visual disturbance to total paralysis, due to which the simplest every day task can no longer be efficiently performed.
Our bodies contain a fatty substance called myelin which surrounds and protects nerve fibres of the brain and spinal cord in the same way that insulation protects electrical wires. When any part of the myelin sheathing is destroyed, nerve impulses to the brain are interrupted and distorted. The result is MS.
It is termed multiple sclerosis because many scattered areas of the brain and the spinal cord are affected, and sclerosed or hardened patches of scar tissues emerge from over the damaged myelin. Researchers are still unclear as to why it occurs and various theories like immunological challenge and viral antigen are being tested currently. So are the genetic factors.
There is no way to predict when or even if attacks of the disease will recur. Symptoms vary greatly from person to person and from time to time in the same person. In general, however, the typical pattern of MS is marked by periods of active disease called exacerbations and quiescent or symptom-free periods called remissions.
MS is not always easy to detect or diagnose because early symptoms can be so spotty, because other diseases of the CNS have some of the same warning signs and because we do not yet have a definitive neurological or laboratory test that can confirm or rule out MS. With the increase in awareness of the MS among people and medical personnel, wider availability of investigations like MRI scan or helping rapid and accurate diagnosis of MS in India. Continued effort for community awareness are vital in progress in this direction .
Several treatments and disease modifying agents have been discovered in the last few years. Counselling to decrease emotional stress, physio and occupational therapy, attention to diet and adequate rest are extremely valuable in helping a person remain independent and lead a full and productive life.
MSSI offers a variety of services such as highly subsidised home-based physiotherapy, free diet guidance, counselling for MS persons as well as for family through home visits, providing aids and appliances like wheelchairs, canes, walkers etc. They also organise free medical camps, seminars, awareness programmes,social and recreational programmes.