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St. George Residents Walk to Create a World Free of MS    
St. George residents are invited to join the movement and walk to create a world free of MS. It’s as easy as taking a Saturday morning stroll along the Virgin River Walkway and enjoying fully-supplied rest stops along a 3-mile; wheelchair accessible route. Participants often join teams and gather contributions from family, friends, and co-workers in order to raise funds. St. George residents can participate in Walk MS: St. George by visiting www.fightmsutah.org or by calling 801-424-0113, press option 2. In 2007, the Southern Utah walk had over 500 registrants and raised almost $50,000. Statewide in 2007, nearly 4,000 people raised over $442,000, and this year, the Utah State Chapter hopes to raise $505,000 statewide. The money raised at this popular fundraiser supports local client programs and research for the 30,000 Utahans affected by MS. “This event is a fun and easy way for people to join the movement,” said Annette Royale, Utah State Chapter President. “People can enjoy a short, Saturday morning walk while making a difference in the lives of Utahans living with MS.” The Utah State Chapter is also recruiting volunteers to help during the event. Volunteers are responsible for setting up the walk site, registering walkers during and prior to the event, monitoring the route, managing snack stations, and cheering walkers along the route. Utahans who want to give back to the community can contact Brandon Hill at the Utah State Chapter at 801-424-0113, press option 2 or visit www.fightmsutah.org. Multiple Sclerosis interrupts the flow of information from the brain to the body and stops people from moving. Every hour in the United States, someone is newly diagnosed with MS, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicated, but advances in research and treatment are moving us closer to a world free of MS. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with more than twice as many women as men contracting the disease. MS affects more than 400,000 people in the U.S., and 2.5 million worldwide. MS is attributed to a combination of environmental and genetic factors, occurring more frequently among people of northern European ancestry, and in higher latitudes north of the equator. Utah is located in a temperate latitude north of the equator with many Utahans being of Northern European heritage, resulting in one of the highest incidence rates of MS in the nation. Studies show that early and ongoing treatment with an FDA-approved therapy can reduce future disease activity and improve quality of life for people with Multiple Sclerosis. Talk to your health care professional and contact the National MS Society at www.nationalMSsociety.org or 1-800-344-4867 to learn about ways to help people with multiple sclerosis and about current research that one day may reveal a cure. Information may also be obtained on the chapter Web site at www.fightmsutah.org. MS stops people from moving, according to the National MS Society. They exist to make sure it doesn’t. They do this by funding more MS research, providing more services to people with MS, offering more professional education and furthering more advocacy efforts than any other MS organization in the world. The Society is dedicated to achieving a world free of MS. They are people who want to do something about MS, now. For more information about what you can do to help fight MS, or about the National MS Society, visit their Web site at www.nationalMSsociety.org.
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