First meeting set for Tuesday

SPANISH FORT, Ala.—Have, or know someone who has, multiple sclerosis but don’t know whom to talk to about it?

Cindy Renkert, events coordinator at Five Rivers, Alabama’s Delta Resource Center, has gathered a monthly MS support group to be held at Five Rivers, just for you.

The group is set to meet from 6 to 8 p.m. the first Tuesday of each month in Delta Hall at Five Rivers; admission is free. The first meeting will be held Tuesday.

“I decided to start a group to have one closer to Baldwin County and during the evenings for those of us that work during the day,” Renkert said. “I hope that we can build the group up to keep it going each month.

“With more people moving here, I’m finding more people that have MS.”

The support group will give others with the disease a chance to discuss ways they have found to ease the symptoms.

“I hope that our group can be an open session where we can all just discuss our issues, concerns and treatments that work for them,” Renkert said. 

Renkert was diagnosed with MS about two years ago, however, she said she had symptoms years before that.

MS is a chronic disease that affects the central nervous system comprising the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves, according  to nmss.org, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s official Web site.

Most people who battle the disease can learn to cope with their own symptoms, the Web site said.

“Many of us that have multiple sclerosis show no outward signs unless we are using a walker or are confined to a wheelchair,” Renkert  said.

MS symptoms may include vision problems, fatigue, numbness, emotional changes headache and hearing loss, among others. Some symptoms are more common than others, according to the Web site.

The disease has been thought to be an autoimmune disorder where the body’s defense system attacks myelin—a fatty substance located around nerve fibers in the CNS—and causes sclerosis to form, the Web site said. 

Today, about 400,000 people in the United States have MS, with more than 200 diagnosed every week. Worldwide the disease is said to affect more than 2.5 million people, the Web site said.

Though there is no cure for MS, treatment options are avilable—such as exercise, medication and rest—and can relieve symptoms.

Five Rivers is located at 30945 Five Rivers Blvd., across from Meaher State Park, on the causeway in Spanish Fort.

For more information contact Renkert at 625-0814.