Results of study on prevalence of MS in Lewistown to be presented - Canton Daily Ledger
LEWISTOWN -- Results of a study on the prevalence of multiple sclerosis (MS) in Lewistown and four other small Illinois communities will be announced in a series of presentations at those five towns

Responding to citizen concerns about a perceived high number of MS cases in small Illinois communities, Health Systems Research of the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford applied for a grant to study the prevalence of the disease in DePue, Lewistown, Morrison, Paw Paw and Savanna.

The grant was awarded in October 2002 from the Agency for Toxic Diseases and Disease Registry, a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The project was funded as one of five areas of the nation to study MS and ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease).

The study, which sought to determine local rates and compare them to national levels, has now been completed and the results will be announced at the meetings scheduled in the five small towns in Illinois.

Health Systems Research sought to find all individuals with MS and ALS who lived in the zip code areas of those communities from 1998 to 2002. Self-identifying individuals then completed information on their medical, residential and occupational history and gave permission for their medical records to be reviewed to verify the diagnosis, a press release said.

For more information contact Joel Cowen, principal investigator, at 1-800-854-4461 or joelc@uic.edu.