Riding For a Reason: the Fight Against MS

A few years ago, Kirstin Luff was enjoying a day of mountain biking with her friends, when quite suddenly her right side went numb and her speech became slurred. It was just a temporary condition that disappeared as quickly as it came on, but she went to a neurologist who was not able to diagnose it. It happened again while she was road biking. It took a few years more before Kirstin was finally diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at age 39. Kirstin said it isn’t uncommon for people to go for years undiagnosed and yet it is critical to start treatment as soon as possible in order to help them function after an attack, prevent new attacks, and prevent disability.

These days Kirstin is still an avid cyclist and continues to enjoy both mountain biking and long road rides. Her MS treatment consists of a once-a-month infusion of a disease modifying drug, and she is looking forward to the release of an oral pill that could be available in six months. In the meantime, she is still an avid cyclist and continues to enjoy both mountain biking and long road rides. That’s important because for people who suffer from MS, exercise not only helps with cardiac health, stamina and mood, but it helps manage many MS symptoms as well.

Kirstin braved wind and rain a couple weeks ago to ride in the Tour de Cure, a ride that raises funds to fight diabetes. But this weekend, Kirstin and her team are taking part in a ride with a cause very close to her heart:  the 24^th Annual Bike MS Ride: Harmon’s Best Dam Ride on June 26-27 in Logan, Utah. Bike MS is the largest organized cycling event in America with 100 rides in 48 states. Over 100,000 cyclists take part and have raised over $82 million to fight MS. It is making a difference. The last 15 years have seen huge advancements: the first six disease modifying drugs have been discovered to help people with multiple sclerosis.

This is part of Team Kirstin from last year's ride. The 24th Annual Bike MS (aka Harmons Best Dam Bike Ride) will have about 3000 riders. The 2010 fundraising goal is to raise $1.6 million for the fight against MS.

A Few Facts About MS

• Multiple sclerosis is an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system which interrupts the flow of information within the brain and between the brain and the body. Symptoms can range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis.
• Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50.
• More than twice as many women are diagnosed with MS than men.
• MS affects more than 400,000 people in the US

• “If I can ride, anyone can! I’m coming up on my third year and I’m so excited. I love to soar down those hills and feel powerful and strong. I think when you have the horrible walking-with-bricks feeling of MS-related fatigue you learn to cherish those fabulous I-Can-Conquer-The-World moments.” (Marianne Hales Harding, St. George, UT.)
• “When my wife, Donna, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis it changed our lives. We finally understood why she occasionally had trouble walking or sleeping, why she sometimes lost her vision, and why she was always so tired. It also turned our entire family into activists. As my daughters have said, “We ride for those who can’t, in the hopes that someday they can.” (David Bernstein, Park City, UT. “Team Fredcast“)