Here we go, folks. Yet another organization insists on fighting MS by insisting that's it cannot be fatal. If these so-called MS-fighting organizations were truly serious about helping people with MS and finding a cure for the disease that the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in the United States says has "devastating effects," they would "market" their fund-raising more like the Muscular Systrophy Association, showing a public face of MS to be one where hundreds of thousands of people worldwide find themselves in wheelchairs or worse, where they can no longer work, where nerve damage can often lead to the failure of various organ systems.
Not terminal or fatal? Ask the family members and caregivers.
The following is from SpiritIndia.com:
At the MS Trust we strongly object to Multiple Sclerosis - MS being described as a terminal disease, as happened yet again yesterday in relation to the sad death of Gillian March. 'Terminal' is defined as "predicted to lead to death, especially slowly" (OED). We are all dying slowly but in fact the vast majority of people with MS will live fulfilling lives to an advanced age.
Premature death due to MS is almost invariably due either to suicide or to a failure to manage symptoms, which leads to secondary complications. With the care and treatment recommended by the NICE clinical guidelines, particularly in Mrs March's case perhaps for depression, the outcome may not have been so sad. Increased suicide rate, particularly among young, non-disabled men diagnosed with MS, is unsurprising when MS is constantly portrayed as terminal.
We have therefore today sent a letter to both the BBC and ITV asking them to consider the language they use to report news items about people with MS -- Multiple Sclerosis Trust
