What is multiple sclerosis?

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a condition that affects your brain and spinal cord. The coating that protects your nerves (myelin) is damaged, and this causes a range of symptoms. Once diagnosed, MS stays with you for life, but with the right treatments and specialists, you can manage the condition to lead a relatively normal life. More than 100,000 people in the UK have MS. People are most likely to be diagnosed with MS in their 40s and 50s, but many people notice their first symptoms years before they get their diagnosis. MS affects almost three times as many women as men. Unfortunately, we don't know the cause and we haven't yet found a cure, but research is progressing extremely fast.