Mountain View Participates in MS Walk 2009
On June 7, ten of Mountain View Optometry’s optometrists and staff participated in this year’s Enerflex MS Walk to raise funds for Multiple Sclerosis (MS). 2000 Calgarians participated this year and walked 4, 8 or 12km starting at Prince’s Island Park.
MS is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune response attacks a person’s central nervous system (brain and spinal cord), leading to progressive physical and cognitive disability. As vision problems are often one of the first symptoms reported by victims of MS, optometrists are often the first health care providers able to identify the disease.
Funds raised through events like the Enerflex MS WALK help provide support to people living with MS and also help drive research initiatives into the cause and cure of multiple sclerosis. Alberta is one of the “hotbeds” of MS with one of the highest rates in the world. There is no cure, however new treatments are being developed which should help reduce the progression and symptoms of the disease.