By Aimee Thibodeau
Special Sections editor
The prevalence of MS in Maine is among the highest in the nation — approximately 180 of every 100,000 residents has been diagnosed with the disease. Compounding the problem is the shortage of MS service providers to serve the state’s rural population. In July 2013, Eastern Maine Medical Center took a major step forward in assisting Maine MS patients by giving them access to a variety of key services coordinated under one roof at the EMMC Comprehensive Multiple Sclerosis Care Center.
The facility’s 100-plus patients can schedule as many appointments as necessary, or as they can handle, in one day at the clinic. This means they may meet with a social worker to assist in obtaining services at home, a psychologist to assist with the mental strain caused by the disease, and receive physical, speech or speciality therapies all in one day to avoid making multiple trips to various care providers.
“It’s a team approach,” said Lugene Cross, a certified MS nurse. “Each visit is comprehensive. We try to schedule all of these appointments [for one visit], as many as they can tolerate.”
Clinic staff also can help coordinate services and treatments with primary care providers, and for those who don’t live close to Bangor, can help coordinate services closer to home.
Most individuals who are diagnosed with MS are in their 20s and early 30s, explained the clinics director, Dr. Alexius Sandoval.
”They are active individuals,” he said, noting that most are in college or are working professionals with families.
Unfortunately, MS is a very unpredictable disease that can have few or minor symptoms, such as numbness or muscle weakness, but can progress quickly and without warning.
“Some people can be very functional and have a very benign case, and some can be very aggressive,” he said.
“In the last 10-20 years we’ve gotten a better understanding of the disease, but there’s still a lot of question marks,” Sandoval said.
Prior to 1993, there were no drugs to treat MS. Now, there are more than 10 that are FDA approved. And while there’s no cure for the disease, the medications can slow its progression.
Why Maine has such a high rate of MS is unclear, but there are several possibilities. It has been proven that there are more cases of MS the farther you go from the equator, perhaps because of less exposure to the sun and vitamin D. There also is a higher prevalence of MS in caucasians, and while MS hasn’t been proven to be genetic, there may be some genetic influences. In addition, advancements in medical technology have made MS easier to diagnose, thus increasing the number of people being treated for the condition.
The hope is that the MS Clinic will not only serve as a central place for services for MS patients in the region, but also will become involved in additional research about the disease in an effort to slow its progression, develop new medications, and unravel the complexities that make it so unpredictable.
For information about EMMC Comprehensive Multiple Sclerosis Care, call 973-6396.