MS & Me
Stephanie Scawen takes us on a journey through life as a Multiple Sclerosis patient and tracks the search for a cure.
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an auto-immune disease in which the body seemingly attacks itself. It affects nearly 2.5 million people worldwide, and is the most common neurological disease among young adults in the world. Women are two times more likely to develop MS than men. And with no imminent cure, sufferers face a down-hill battle into disability and potential paralysis.
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Al Jazeera’s South East Asia correspondent Stephanie Scawen was one of the first 50 people diagnosed with MS in Singapore. While it is very rare in that region, it is relatively common in the UK, where Stephanie is from. In fact, Orkney Island in the north of Scotland has the highest rate of MS sufferers in the world.
Stephanie has tried numerous drugs to fight MS attacks, but one particularly brutal occurrence left her with a chronic limp and needing a walking stick.
In this episode of Al Jazeera Correspondent, Stephanie investigates the causes of Multiple Sclerosis and the possible treatments, as well as taking us on a journey through life as an MS patient. We see how she must confront the inevitable decline in her physical abilities and come face to face with what seems an inevitable fate, all the while never relinquishing her hope for a cure.