WHEN Sue Hawes was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis almost 20 years ago, she admits she didn’t know a thing about the condition.

MS falls into that sinister category of illnesses that we all know we don’t want to have, but don’t really know anything about.

For some, there is no denying, the illness brings debilitation over time. Others may experience nothing for years other than numb toes or a twinge in the muscles somewhere.

During the recent World MS day, we spoke to Sue and her husband Martin, from York, about how she was living life to the full, by listening to her body and paying close heed to what it tells her.

“I was diagnosed at the age of 41,” she said. “I had had it before that, but it was never diagnosed.”

The diagnosis eventually came after Sue visited her GP when she woke up one morning and realised she had vision in only one eye.

“That stayed with me for eight weeks then disappeared, thankfully,” she said. “I hadn’t even heard of MS at the time.

“The neurologist then didn’t really give us a great deal of information; it was sort of ‘there there, dear’ and then he gave me a book to read.”

Both Sue and Martin read the book and any other information they could find and Sue credits her husband with being a huge help in coping with a condition which has eventually seen her rely on a wheelchair to get around.

Though even that has failed to dampen her outlook in life, and has seen Martin embark on series of fundraising runs for the MS Trust. When we spoke to Sue she had just enjoyed a makeover and lunch as a guest of Saks Salon in Davygate, which laid on the day in support of World MS Day.

“It’s a case of trying to be very positive,” she said.

“I have never thought ‘why me’?’ There are a lot more things that could be far, far worse.

“Of course there are a lot of things we can’t do. I used to do a lot of walking and it affects what type of holiday I can go on. I have to make some adjustments but not give in to it.”

Martin said: “We always say we won’t let the MS beat us. You have to live your life and just take note of the warning signs if you push yourself too much. A healthy diet is very important too.”

According to the MS Trust charity, the condition is the most common one affecting the central nervous system. Due to damage to the nerve cells, messages which would normally travel to and from the brain allowing us to move and talk, are disrupted. In the earlier stages of MS, the central nervous system can often repair areas of damage or reroute messages via different pathways of neurons thereby avoiding the damaged areas.

This explains why episodes of symptoms can be followed by weeks, months or even years when symptoms improve or disappear, such as in the case of Sue’s temporarliy lost eyesight. However, if the area of damage becomes too large, communication with that specific part of the central nervous system may become permanently blocked.

The symptoms experienced depend on the position and extent of the scarring or lesions within the central nervous system and on how much damage has occurred, so no two people with MS will have exactly the same set of symptoms.

According to the trust, the cause of the condition is not yet fully understood but is thought to be a combination of environmental and genetic factors. One theory is that some people have certain groups of genes that make them more likely to develop MS. It may be that an external factor, such as a virus, triggers a reaction in those with this genetic predisposition causing the immune system to malfunction and attack its own myelin.

Sue said: “I like to think I am in control of the MS not the MS being in control of me.”

Because of the subtle symptoms of the early stages of MS, it can go undiagnosed for years. Here are some of the potential signs:

• fatigue
• loss of vision in one eye
• blurred or double vision
• dragging a foot
• weakness of limbs
• reduced co-ordination
• balance problems
• numbness, pins and needles, burning sensations.

‘They thought it was a lack of vitamins’

Caroline, (not her real name), is in her early fifties and works at the University of York. She was diagnosed with MS three-and-a-half years ago and, apart from her family and a few select friends, has kept her condition to herself.

“I went to my GP and they thought it could be anything from a lack of vitamins. I was a bit low in iron so they put me on tablets but then I started getting tingling in my fingers. It took two years to diagnose.

“It’s not obvious to anyone else that I’ve got MS. My line manager and immediate friends know but I don’t advertise the fact. I don’t want people to make a fuss.

“I do wake up every morning knowing it’s there. I feel my muscles twitching sometimes or just walking up a flight of stairs I will feel as though I have walked for miles. At the moment I only see my consultant once a year. Hopefully it will stay like it is because I am coping and I am not in pain.”

• For more information on MS, go to www.mstrust.org.uk. The Press would like to thank Saks in Davygate, Nail Bar One and Bobbi Brown.