REGIONAL RESULTS OF MS STUDY TO BE RELEASED PAW PAW - In response to people's concern about a perceived high number of multiple sclerosis cases in small Illinois communities, a study has been completed.

Its findings comparing local incidence of the disease to that nationwide will be presented at 7 p.m. Dec. 5 at the Community Building on Main Street.

Health Systems Research of the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford submitted a grant to study the prevalence of the disease in the towns of DePue, Lewistown, Morrison, Paw Paw and Savanna.

Presentations will be held in each of the five study communities.

The grant was received in October 2002 from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, which is a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Five areas in the nation were funded to study MS and ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease).

Health Systems Research sought to find all individuals with MS and ALS who had lived in the ZIP code areas of the five targeted communities from 1998 to 2002.

Study subjects then completed information on their medical, residential and occupational history and gave permission for their medical records to be reviewed to verify the diagnosis.

For more information, contact Joel Cowen, principal investigator, at (800) 854-4461 or joelc@uic.edu.