MAY 26th, 2011
Mark Christian – 23ABC North Of The River Reporter
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Wednesday was World Multiple Sclerosis Day, and two local families spoke out about how the disease has affected them.
MS is usually diagnosed in people between the ages 20 and 50 years old, but some doctors are becoming concerned that more cases of young people are popping up in Kern County.
“Medical experts used to think that children didn’t get MS, but now many are being diagnosed. This helps raise awareness for pediatricians to look out for the disease,” said Kim Kotrla of the National MS Society.
There are just under 1,000 MS cases in Kern County and 5 percent of those are in children. Two Bakersfield moms are speaking out about their daughters’ recent diagnoses.
“Now we are seeing more kids with this disease. We need more people digging in and looking into why this is happening,” said Shelly Gilliland, whose 12-year-old daughter, Taylor Prather, was recently diagnosed.
Joy Amaro’s 14-year-old daughter Durer, was also recently diagnosed with MS.
Amaro said their medical specialist in San Francisco was shocked to hear that they were from Kern County, because they have had an increasing number of patients from this area.
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