Multiple sclerosis (MS) is not a new disease. Its effects on the brain were described in the 1830s, and it was identified as a distinct clinical entity in the 1860s. In fact, writings from the Middle Ages appear to describe individuals with this condition. MS is the most common neurological disorder of young adults; there are approximately 350,000 people with MS in the United States and an estimated 2 million patients worldwide. Research on the disorder has been energetic over recent decades. In 1996, the . National Institutes of Health (NIH) spent almost $83 million on MS research. This sum exceeded the NIH expenditure that year on asthma,.
