May is MS Awareness Month!

As we enter MS Awareness Month this May, we remember that MS is a complex disease that affects every person differently. While the majority of people living with MS are diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), more than half will develop secondary-progressive MS within 10 years of their diagnosis; and 90 per cent will develop progressive MS within 25 years of their diagnosis.

This year, we are dedicating MS Awareness Month to raising awareness about progressive MS. To further our knowledge about progressive MS, the MS Society of Canada and Multiple Sclerosis Scientific Research Foundation are funding a $3.8 million collaborative grant to investigate the complex interplay between degeneration and inflammation in multiple sclerosis, research which may have special relevance for those with progressive forms of MS. There has never been a more hopeful time in Canadian MS research.

There are many ways you can highlight MS Awareness Month throughout the month of May:

• Update your Facebook status and timeline cover to promote MS Awareness Month.
• Read and repost important May Awareness Month press releases from the MS Society of Canada.
• Launch a “Dress for MS Day” in your office by wearing “MS” red and making a donation to the MS Society of Canada.
• From Thursday, May 10 to Saturday, May 12 be sure to use the power of the flower to end MS with the MS Carnation Campaign! Just in time for Mother’s Day, you can buy your mother or loved one a carnation from one of our volunteers.
• Visit your local Mr. Lube on Saturday, May 12. For every oil change done that day, $5 will be donated the MS Society of Canada in support of their Founder’s Day Campaign.
• On May 30, acknowledge and celebrate World MS Day.
• Join the MS research teleconference taking place May 31 at 6:00 pm ET.

Since the 1970s, we have observed May as MS Awareness Month to raise awareness on behalf of people affected by MS.  Thank you for continuing to lend strength towards our efforts to end MS.