Each week more than 200 people are diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and globally approximately 2.5 million people have the disease. A new resource is now available for patients and caregivers, which includes more than 33 stories of parents, spouses, children and loved ones impacted by MS. Voices of Multiple Sclerosis: The Healing Companion: Stories for Courage, Comfort and Strength recounts the stories of a daughter who watched her mother balance her disease and an active life in “Recollection”, a physician who realizes laughter is the best medicine when answering questions about her diagnosis in “Telling the World” and a retired professor with a 6-year old daughter who tries to determine what symptoms are aging versus his disease in “Disability Blues”.
“We are proud to have completed our seventh book in the Voices Of anthology series,” said Debra LaChance, Founder of LaChance Publishing. “It is very important to me to provide real-life stories as an avenue of support and hope for those who must live with chronic and life-threatening illnesses.”
The Voices Of book series was conceptualized by Debra LaChance who, when diagnosed with breast cancer, sought out the personal stories of those who had been through what she was experiencing and from which she could take comfort and find the strength to survive. To date, the series has tackled some of the most pressing healthcare issues, including autism, breast cancer, lung cancer, alcoholism, Alzheimer’s disease, and multiple sclerosis.
About Multiple Sclerosis
According to the National MS Society, MS is a chronic, unpredictable disease of the central nervous and is thought to be an autoimmune disorder. MS symptoms result when an immune-system attack affects myelin, the protective insulation surrounding nerve fibers of the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord). Myelin is destroyed and replaced by scars of hardened “sclerotic” tissue. Some underlying nerve fibers are permanently severed. The damage appears in multiple places within the central nervous system. MS symptoms of MS are unpredictable; vary from person to person, from time to time in the same person and can be temporary or permanent, depending on each individual.
Approximately 400,000 Americans have MS, and worldwide, MS affects about 2.5 million people. Most people are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, although individuals as young as 2 and as old as 75 have developed it. MS is not considered a fatal disease as the vast majority of people with it live a normal life-span. But they may struggle to live as productively as the desire, often facing increasing limitations.
More than twice as many women as men have MS. Studies suggest that genetic factors make certain individuals more susceptible than others. It occurs more commonly among people with northern European ancestry. People of African, Asian, and Hispanic backgrounds are also diagnosed with MS; however, the incidence is much lower.
Voices of Multiple Sclerosis and all of the Voices Of books are available at bookstores everywhere and online at LaChance Publishing Web site, www.lachancepublishing.com.
Title: Voices of Multiple Sclerosis: The Healing Companion: Stories for Courage, Comfort and Strength
Author: The Healing Project
Publisher: LaChance Publishing
Distributor: Independent Publishers Group $16.95 (CAN $18.95)
Publication: December 1, 2009
Details: ISBN #9781934184080, Health, Paper, 180 pages, 6 x 9
Media Contact:
Carrie Goldstein, 954-712-2300, carrie@impactimageonline.com
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