"According to a new pan-European survey released today to coincide with the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) meeting, people living with multiple sclerosis (MS) are continuing to be rejected by a large section of society. Results from this survey, the largest general public survey in MS to date, have caused leading practitioners to call for increased awareness and understanding of the disease.

Over 5,000 respondents revealed that while most people would happily befriend a person with MS, nearly one in three1 would be disinclined to enter a relationship or marry someone with the condition, with men less likely to do so than women. This is despite the vast majority of people knowing that the condition, which affects people mostly in their 20s and 30s, is neither contagious nor likely to cause people to be unable to have children.

The same survey revealed that 56% Europeans still incorrectly believe that people with MS will die early... and as many as 75% think that people with the condition will need to use a wheelchair.

These statistics may help to explain why people with MS continue to feel misunderstood and isolated from the rest of society. "MS is the most common neurological disease in young adults {CLICK FOR MORE}