To the Editor:
I am raising awareness for multiple sclerosis and have been for years. Better known as MS, it is an unpredictable, often disabling, disease of the central nervous system. It interrupts flow of information between the brain and body. Patient symptoms vary and range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. It affects more than 400,000 adults and children in the United States.

Our bodies are in constant motion moving information from the brain to the body. MS stops people from moving by attacking myelin that protects normal nerve tissue. The damage keeps people from moving smoothly, both inside and out. Many have trouble imagining what life would be like without the ability to move, but I know the effects of MS as I have MS.

Feb. 28, I will again take the initiative to the Carroll County Commissioners meeting and speak to them regarding MS. I am asking they accept a proclamation I constructed and recognize Carroll County, being one of the 88 counties in Ohio, that March is MS Awareness Month in the state of Ohio as signed into law by former Governor Robert Taft on March 2, 2006. I am also making arrangements with Harrison and Jefferson counties to accept the proclamation as well.

March of last year was a stepping stone as it has been announced a new FDA oral medication has been approved called Ampyra. Currently, the only prescribed MS medications are administered by injections. Information obtained indicates the active ingredient in Ampyra is a sustained-release formula of 4 aminopyridine, which blocks tiny pores on the surface of the nerve fibers. The blocking ability may improve the transmission of signals in nerve fibers whose insulating myelin coating has been damaged by MS.

I ask for your help in raising MS awareness because this is a battle we can, and should win. Carroll County MS is the group name and the donation goal is $500. Last year I raised over $300 for the MS Walk event held at Price Park in North Canton. I walked 16 miles for the MS cause. Would you all please help me and help in the research for a MS cure. Any donation would be greatly appreciated.

Edward L. Hale
Carrollton, OH

<<Back>>

The Free Press Standard invites you to post your thoughts on the story in the box below.

• However, before you post, please read these few basic rules.
• Be appropriate. Posts with obscene, explicit, sexist or racist language will be deleted.
• Be polite. Posts containing personal attacks, insults, or threats will be deleted.
• Be honest. Potentially libelous statements will be deleted.
• Don't 'spam'. Posts advertising or promoting commercial products will be deleted.
• Help monitor your community. Click "Report Abuse" on any entry that violates these guidelines.
• This is your forum, with your opinions.

These posts do not reflect the views of the The Free Press Standard or its employees.