Anuradha Goswami teaches economics in a college. A decade ago, she started experiencing an uneasiness in her body and her eyesight got blurred. Her condition so worsened that she could no longer hold a pen.
Alo Roy, a retired professor of English, started losing her balance and felt tired even after slight physical exertion.
Anuradha and Alo consulted several doctors, who could ease their sufferings only temporarily. It was at a voluntary organisation that the disease could be diagnosed.
The two were found to be suffering from multiple sclerosis (MS), a “progressive neurological ailment” that has no cure.
The organisation, Multiple Sclerosis Society of India (MSSI), offered specialised treatment to Anuradha and Alo, which included physiotherapy, free. Today, both are leading near-normal lives.
Like the duo, several people suffering from MS have got a new lease of life after coming to the Society, whose only centre in eastern and northeastern India is at 9A Peary Row (off Beadon Street). It is affiliated to the London-headquartered Multiple Sclerosis International Federation.
“The usual treatment for MS — only the medication part — costs Rs 20 lakh a year and it extends over two years. At our Society, we use a mix of cheaper alternatives and provide the treatment free,” said Samir Chakraborty, liaison officer of MSSI (east).
If necessary, doctors attached to the Society visit patients at home without taking any fees. “To needy patients, we even provide wheelchairs, walkers, special shoes and others props free,” he added.
MS, not contiguous or hereditary, sets in when a part of the myelin, a fatty substance covering the central nervous system, gets damaged.
“Consequently, related areas of the nervous system stop functioning. As the disease is incurable, symptomatic and palliative treatment is the only way to provide relief to patients,” said Ranjit Kumar Biswas, a consultant at MSSI.
The common symptoms are a tingling and painful feeling in any part of the body. Besides, the limbs become paralysed, speech gets slurred, patients lose physical balance and urination and bowel movement get affected.
The city centre of the Society handles around 20 patients a year. “We plan to expand our capacity,” Biswas said.
