King Fahad Specialist Hospital organizes Better Together awareness evening

The Evening, which's annually organized by KFSHD Neurosciences Center coinciding with events of World Multiple Sclerosis Day, is targeting patients with multiple sclerosis disease and their families in the region, and looking for ways to educate them about the concept and nature of the disease and how to live with it and deal with physical and psychological changes that affect patients through answering their inquires by a number of specialist physicians in multiple areas such as specialists in physiotherapy, rehabilitation & psychological treatment
and specialist consultants in multiple sclerosis disease.

In this regard, Dr.Reem Al Bunayan ,consultant neurologist, Director of KFSHD Neurosciences Center and Deputy Chairperson of Saudi Multiple Sclerosis Society stated that MS is a human central nervous system disease that affect the brain and spinal cord where it damages myelin membrane that surrounds and protects nerve cells ; leading to slow down and isolate the electrical nerve signals sent between brain and human body and thus causes the onset of symptoms represented in visual disturbances, muscle weakness, imbalance as well as problems in feelings, thinking and memory.

Dr. Al Bonayan added that MS is a global disease with unspecified reasons, although there are some assumptions and theory factors raised about its causes. It is a disease that affects both men and women with ages ranging between 20 to 50 years. Our society suffers the lack of awareness about MS and the importance of providing assistant factors to enable patients with MS to live easily with the disease, so it must be for the patient and family an active role by healthily educating them about the disease and the important & multi aspects to support their treatment through physical & mental health.

Dr.Al Bunayan also added that there are no specific statistics to count the disease and the number of infected population in the Kingdom , where statistics will help us to understand the disease and the prevalence rate and its activity in the Kingdom, pointing out that the Saudi Consultative Group is in process to achieve statistical work for this disease in the Kingdom and that the latest statistics of the European Society for Neuroscience Diseases revealed an increase in the incidence of this disease in the Gulf region represented in Kuwait , where infection rates have increased from 14.7 per each 100.000 person and that the role of community must be activated in supporting patients with MS and provide social and career opportunities that fit with the functional capacity of these patients , as they are fully able to work and production. We should not make the disease a hindrance to them for contribution.

Finally , Dr. Al Bunayan assured on the importance of launching research and development programs and to intensify efforts to make statistics about MS disease in the Kingdom and conducting the required research to study the extent of the disease and the factors affecting its activity and prevalence ; expressing her aspirations for further cooperation with international institutions for MS disease for the development of medicines and vaccines that may help cease the progression and spread of the disease.