NEW MS 'HUB' IN SEATTLE, WA
© Warren King, Seattle Times Medical Reporter
The first patients are being seen at a startup clinic near Lake Union.
Organizers of the facility, called the MS Hub, envision it becoming one of the top centers in the nation, with patients coming primarily from the Pacific Northwest, where an estimated 14,000 MS patients live.
More than 1 in 700 people in Washington have the disease.
"We hope it will be a place where more patients get better care, and that we can find a cure. That is our goal and vision," said Dr. Craig Smith, founding neurologist of the center and a veteran specialist in MS.
FACTS ABOUT MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS Multiple sclerosis is a chronic, progressively disabling disease of the nervous system that affects about 9,000 people in Washington state, including twice as many women as men. It occurs when the body's immune system inexplicably attacks the myelin sheath around nerve fibers and the fibers themselves.
Symptoms include blurred vision, loss of balance, poor coordination, slurred speech, tremors, numbness, extreme fatigue, problems with memory and concentration, paralysis and blindness.
Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50. It is not considered fatal, and the vast majority of MS patients live a normal life span.
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society Center officials next week will hold a reception to celebrate the launch of the nonprofit facility.
The celebration coincides with a crucial period in a campaign to raise $20 million - the amount organizers say they need to develop the project to the scope they envision.
If the capital campaign raises about $4 million in the coming months, the Hub will move into its permanent facility - three floors of the Metropolitan Park West building, near REI's flagship store in Seattle, said Michael Uradnik, executive director. For now, it is in a suite of offices in the Metropolitan Park East building.
Smith said talks with potential benefactors are proceeding well, and some pharmaceutical companies already have made donations. Several of the top MS physicians in the area have agreed to move to the center or are seriously considering a move, he said.
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