Dx ed in the US

[Guest guest]

Chancey : Montel did you ever have any misconceptions or myths about MS, that you later found out are not true, at least in your case? Montel_ : MS has been a baffling disease to the scientific and medical communities since it was first written about in I think 1863. I am constantly fighting myths about this disease and seeing myths written in the press about MS. One out there right now is that the population in US with MS is under 300,000. I saw that reported about 2 weeks ago in an article discussing Medicare and Medicaid for the ABC drugs. The myth is that fewer than 300,000 people have MS. About a year ago I and several others helped Zogby corporation (one of the US's leading pollsters) to conduct a poll and we found out that over 2.75 million people have already been diagnosed with this illness in America. We're getting ready to have Gallup confirm that data within the next month before I testify before Congress. So, I say there are so many misconceptions, things that I'm constantly learning about. One thing a doctor told me was that I needed to relax and not exercise so hard and that was just two and a half years ago and now the majority of doctors who treat MS patients recognize that that was bad information. So, I say this to say that we are responsible for our own medical and just as responsible for knowing as much about our illness as the people we go to see. As I continue to learn more about MS I will try to continue to share that with as many people as I can in chats like this and on our web site. Dr._Barbara_Geisser : I agree absolutely. I think that people with MS are responsible for managing their illness and hopefully they can do this in collaboration with their healthcare providers.

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