Materia Medica Malaysiana

On a mission to track down MS patients

It all started 31 years ago for Padma Panikker with severe pain at the back of the head and blurred vision.
A day or two later, she was unable to walk steadily as her legs felt weak.
Padma was taken to Kuala Lumpur Hospital where she was referred to a neurosurgeon and an ophthalmologist.
After a series of tests, she was diagnosed 10 days later with multiple sclerosis (MS).
Today, Padma is on a mission — to track down some 500 Malaysians suffering from MS — a chronic, progressive disease of the central nervous system.
Padma, who currently heads the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Malaysia, said although there were about 500 people with the disease only 100 had registered with the society.
"There are many out there who need our help and moral support," she said, adding that the society found that many were succumbing to the disease because they could not afford the drug beta-interferon, which costs about RM3,550 a pack.
The drug has been shown to substantially reduce relapses and lesions on the nerves and slow the progress of disability.
The youngest patient registered with the society is a nine-year-old boy from Penang.
"MS is not the end of the world. Many have readjusted their lives and are successfully getting on with the support of family members and friends," Padma said.
She said the society wished to reach out to these people because almost all of them would suffer depression and there could even be several living in shock, fear, disbelief and denial.
"We may not be able to help them financially, but we can give them support, care, counselling and guidance. They will also be able to interact with other victims of the disease."
Padma said almost 90 per cent of MS victims in Malaysia were women.
The cause of MS is unknown although it is considered an "auto-immune" disease — one that occurs when the body is no longer able to differentiate its own cells from foreign agents and, subsequently, begins to destroy its own tissues.
Rheumatoid Arthritis and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus are common auto-immune diseases.
In patients with MS, the myelin sheathes that include the nerve fibres become the target of an attack orchestrated by the patient’s own white blood cells.
MS affects up to two million people worldwide, including an estimated 450,000 in Europe alone.
The society is holding an MS Link Meeting on June 25 at Crystal Crown Hotel in Petaling Jaya.Padma hoped that MS victims and their family members would attend the meeting so that they could obtain more information on how to live with the disease. Admission is free.
MS patients can contact the society by calling Padma at 03-78760568 or society secretary Wendy Lee Ming Li at 016-2268676.