10/13/2004
Milford, NH – Due to the Christmas holiday, Souhegan Home & Hospice Care’s support group for families affected by Multiple Sclerosis has completed its 2004 schedule. Please join us in the new year at our next meeting:
- Saturday, January 27, 2005
Meetings are from 3 to 5 p.m. on the last Saturday of each month
Entitled ‘Living with MS’, the group meets at Souhegan Home & Hospice Care, 24 North River Road, Milford, NH, and aims to bring together local MS sufferers (and their families) to share their challenges, concerns and ideas.
Brookline resident Albert Demello, diagnosed with MS in 2000, and Howard Cossitt, M.S.W. (Medical Social Worker) from Souhegan Home & Hospice Care will lead each session. While the group will ultimately decide each month’s topics and dates, the general focus will be on looking forward and overcoming the challenges that MS presents. Also, this group provides area families affected by MS with an opportunity to network with others near them who are facing similar issues. Light snacks and refreshments will be served at each meeting and for more information or to RSVP, contact Souhegan Home & Hospice Care at 603-673-3460.
About MS: Multiple sclerosis is a life-long chronic disease diagnosed primarily in young adults. During an MS attack, inflammation occurs in areas of the white matter of the central nervous system (nerve fibers that are the site of MS lesions) in random patches called plaques. This process is followed by destruction of myelin, which insulates nerve cell fibers in the brain and spinal cord. Myelin facilitates the smooth, high-speed transmission of electrochemical messages between the brain, the spinal cord, and the rest of the body.
The initial symptom of MS is often blurred or double vision, red-green color distortion, or even blindness in one eye. Most MS patients experience muscle weakness in their extremities and difficulty with coordination and balance. Most people with MS also exhibit paresthesias (transitory abnormal sensory feeling such as numbness or ‘pins and needles’). Some may experience pain or loss of feeling. About half of people with MS experience cognitive impairments such as difficulties with concentration, attention, memory, and judgment. Such impairments are usually mild, rarely disabling, and intellectual and language abilities are generally spared. Heat may cause temporary worsening of many MS symptoms.
