Veterans and Multiple Sclerosis

“At the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh year…” the simple elegance of the phrasing brings one back to the time when the end of a war was marked by an Armistice.  Back to a time so naive as to name what we now know as a prequel “The war to end all wars”.  But today, call it Veteran’s Day or Armistice Day or Remembrance Day, we stop to honor those who have served their countries in time of war and in time of peace. Unfortunately, many of the ranks of our veterans are also members of our ranks; people living with multiple sclerosis. There have been some studies showing veterans at higher risk for MS than the general population.  Some legislation has been written to address, but MS in vets isn’t a very sexy topic… so it has always died in the process. I am a veteran living with MS.  Though I exhibited symptoms of the disease during my service and within the few years directly after – symptoms that my MS team confirms were indeed symptoms of the disease – I was diagnosed too long after my service to avail myself of very good medical care at a VA MS Center of Excellence. And I am not alone. One of the components of MS appears to be an environmental factor which has yet to be identified.  It appears that service in the military – the US military at least – may expose more people to that (or, perhaps, “those”) factors. This Veteran’s Day is different for me than those in the past; far from the shores of lakes, seas and oceans I onc...
Source: Life with MS - Category: Other Conditions Authors: Tags: MS multiple sclerosis awareness research Veterans and MS Source Type: blogs