This Sunday, my whole family will be participating in the Kanata Supercities Walk for Multiple Sclerosis.  My wife was diagnosed with MS in 1991.  She's been doing quite well with it over the years compared to other people we know.  She's still able to walk well and she's able to do most things she wants.  She occasionally has numbness or burning in her legs and arms, but she's otherwise quite mobile.  Others aren't so lucky.  A friend of hers is blind and needs a wheelchair.  Others have spent time in the hospital unable to move until they are given steroid treatments.

MS affects people in northern climates more frequently than those in tropical climates.  Scientists believe this is related to Vitamin D, but it's not conclusive yet.  The Ottawa MS Clinic is running a clinical trial that holds a lot of promise for MS.  In the people they've treated so far, it appears that the MS has been cured.  The catch is that the treatment requires a bone marrow transplant and is, therefore, quite dangerous.  One person in the trial died from complications of the treatment.  Hopefully, they'll discover a safer and less intrusive treatment soon.

If anyone would be interesting in sponsoring us in the walk, please drop me an e-mail at david@simberon.com.  You can also donate to the MS Society of Canada directly at http://www.mssociety.ca/en/events/scwalk/online-fundraising.htm#donate.