With results of the first nationwide research of multiple sclerosis showing that reported incidences of the disease in Taiwan are much lower than in Japan or the West, experts fear that many cases are either not being reported or are being misdiagnosed.
They urged early diagnosis and treatment for the disease at a press conference held yesterday hosted by Schering, a research-oriented pharmaceutical company based in Germany.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system that typically afflicts people ages 18-50. It manifests itself in a range of symptoms including balance problems, visual problems, numbness and an inability to move the limbs.
Low numbers
According to the research, which was conducted by Schering in conjunction with the Taiwan Foundation of Rare Disorders, the prevalence of MS in Taiwan is 2.5 per 100,000 people, with 589 patients being identified through October this year.
This compares with 10 per 100,000 in Japan and 1 per 1,000 in Europe, which according to the Managing Director of Schering Taiwan LTD, Bernhard Dreikorn, meant that MS in Taiwan was, "Still a significantly under-diagnosed disease."
Secretary-General of the Multiple Sclerosis Patients Organization Michael Wu (巫忠興) said, "About 80 percent of patients registered with the organization are based in the north. But this doesn't mean there are fewer incidences in other parts of Taiwan. In reality, incidences of misdiagnosis in central and southern Taiwan are very high."
A 20-year-old MS patient surnamed Lin who came to share her experiences said, "After my first attack I was diagnosed with facial neuralgia. The symptoms went away after I had acupuncture treatment. When they reoccurred two years later I was referred to the psychiatric department before getting treatment from the neurology department."
Lin said that she hadn't suspected she had MS because she had never heard of the disease, and had developed anxiety as a result of her symptoms.
Ignorance
According to a survey of 141 patients taken as part of the research, 89.4 percent of patients were unaware of the symptoms and treatments for MS prior to their clinical diagnosis.
Dr. Yang Chih-chao (
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS