June 2014
KOCHI: A 23-year-old engineering graduate from North Kerala was all excited when she got a job in an IT firm. But, it was short-lived as she noticed her right hand had become weak, unable to hold things, even a pen.
An MRI scan of her brain and spinal cord revealed that she had ‘white matter lesions’ in her cervical cord and brain. She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis( MS ). Subsequently, she started medication and her condition improved.
A year later, the patient suddenly lost vision in the right eye. Though her body responded to medicines for two years, her mobility started weakening, and she lost bladder control. Over the years, her condition deteriorated and now she is wheelchair-bound. Hark! before you brush it aside as an isolated incident. Shockingly, around 1500-2000 persons in Kerala are victims of MS.
The disease mostly affects the young population, in the 20-40 age group. According to experts, the occurrence rate of MS in Kerala is alarming, considering the the population of the State.
According to a world ‘MS Atlas’ survey, three-five persons in every one lakh people are victims of MS in India. Extrapolating this data, the State has around 2000 MS patients, which is alarming.
To make matters worse, only less than 20 per cent of the patients can afford the expense for the treatment of MS, which does not have an absolute cure.
“As the majority of the population in Kerala is under the age of 35, the high occurrence rate of MS will affect the productivity of the state. Hence, the emotional stress it causes is severe,” Dr R Suresh Kumar, professor, Department of Neurology, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, said.
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