Connection: Ms Hits Inland Northwest Hard
No place in the United States is affected by multiple sclerosis like the Inland Northwest.
Only Scotland has a higher incidence of the debilitating disease. Doctors say part of the reason stems from the region’s racial homogeneity.
The disease most often hits people of northern European ancestry somewhere between age 20 and 40.
Women are affected three times more often than men.
Genetics and unknown environmental triggers also are thought to be part of the reason a person’s immune system is fooled into believing it must attack the nervous system.
One area resident, Scott Hall, is undergoing a stem cell transplant this spring in an attempt to stop the progression of MS. The procedure, normally used for leukemia and other cancer patients, is being tested on only a few MS patients.
The Multiple Sclerosis Center at Holy Family Hospital in Spokane - the only such specialized treatment facility in the region - adds 33 patients a month. Because of its unique status, it is one of the sites across the country selected this spring to test a new type of drug treatment for MS.
Holy Family is administering a pill form of copaxone to some MS patients. Copaxone is one of three drugs considered effective at slowing the effects from a relapsing/remitting form of MS. But it only has been available by injection.
People interested in participating in the study or otherwise reaching the center should call (509) 489-5019.