Walk for MS research in June

WAKEFIELD – About 500 people are expected to raise more than $100,000 to support cutting-edge research and life-changing programs and services for people living with multiple sclerosis at the Annual Walk MS: Wakefield.The walk will take place June 21 at Lake Quannapowitt. Walk MS is an opportunity for people living with MS and those who care about them to connect and join together to be inspired and raise critical funds for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.The walk is presented by Biogen Idec, attracts friends and families of people affected by MS, people living with MS, corporate teams, and individuals who want to help end MS forever. The route is three miles and fully accessible.Each year, nearly 333,000 people across the country walk to create a world free of MS.To participate or volunteer, visit www.walkMSgne.org, call 1-800-344-4867, or email [email protected] raised will support research and life-changing programs and services for people living with MS.Additional sponsors for the walk are Genzyme, a Sanofi company, EMD Serono, Acorda Therapeutics, Arbella Insurance Foundation, Reliant Medical Group, Abbvie, Bernie & Phyl’s Furniture, Omnova, and WCVB-TV5.The National Multiple Sclerosis Society mobilizes people and resources to drive research for a cure and to address the challenges of everyone affected by MS.In 2014, the society invested $50.6 million to advance more than 380 research projects around the world in order to stop MS in its tracks, restore what has been lost and end MS forever.Through its comprehensive, nationwide network of programs and services, it also helped more than one million people affected by MS connect to the people, information and resources needed to live their best lives.Multiple sclerosis, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system, interrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain and body. 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 predicted, 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 at least two to three times more women than men being diagnosed with the disease. MS affects more than 2.3 million people worldwide.