Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

After being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) last year, having three relapses in a six month period, I decided if my health improved I would set myself a couple of challenges to try to raise funds for the MS Society. Lucky for me, I'm doing great at the moment, aside from minor sensory symptoms and relentless fatigue! So, my bestie Lynn and I did the Great Scottish Swim in Loch Lomond last month, which was much tougher than we anticipated! I'm also doing the half marathon in October, and since I just started running in March I'm sure it will be another eye opener but I'm very grateful I can give it a go!

The MS Society carries out vital research into possible new treatments, and offers support and information to people with MS and their families. Their website was a godsend last year. MS medication has advanced quickly over the last few years, but there's still no cure or way of controlling this illness (and no definite known cause); what will be will be. I really believe that a cure will be found in the near future, but we need to raise money so that treatments can be developed and tested. 

MS can affect many things, including vision, balance, speech and mobility, and people may also experience pain, numbness, stiffness and tingling. Memory, thinking, mood and concentration can also be affected. Unfortunately there's no limit to the list of symptoms, it depends which nerves have been under attack.

For anyone who wants to know a bit more (I'll try to keep it short!), here comes the science bit..........MS is an autoimmune disease that affects the brain and spinal cord, the body's white blood cells attack tissue called myelin. It's a complex illness and no two people have the same set of symptoms. 

Myelin forms a sheath that is the protective covering for nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord. Much like the insulation around an electric wire, myelin sheaths cover nerve fibers as they transmit impulses within the nervous system. When a myelin sheath is worn down, the nerve fiber is exposed, making it difficult to transmit signals. As a result, messages between different parts of the nervous system and the body are not transmitted as effectively.

There's different types of MS, the most common is Relapsing Remitting, where each relapse can see the return of old symptoms or completely new ones. With this type of MS, a full or partial recovery is made after each relapse which is known as the remission period. Most people start with this kind, but after around 15 years many people advance to the progressive type, which has no remission periods.

Any donation, whatever the size can make a huge difference and coincidentally my fundraising is during the MS Society's 'I challenge MS' campaign :)

Thanks so much!

Denise x

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