Multiple Sclerosis Cases in the World and United States - Number of
From StatWiki
About 400,000 people in the United States have multiple sclerosis; worldwide, there are 2.1 million. (The disease is more common in temperate zones than in the tropics, and affects more women than men and more Caucasians than members of other groups.) It usually begins in young adults, with fatigue, vision problems, numbness, bladder trouble and difficulty with walking, balance and coordination. The disease eats away a fatty substance, myelin, that coats nerves, and gradually scars the nerves. The damage is thought to occur because the immune system, for unknown reasons, mistakenly attacks myelin.
Most patients, 85 percent, start out with a form called relapsing-remitting. In about half of those the disease becomes progressive, harder to treat and more disabling.
[edit] Source
New York Times, From M.S. Patients, Outcry for Unproved Treatment, 6/28/2010
