LAS CRUCES — The MS Walk held Saturday at Young Park Pavilion, hosted by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society promotes awareness and educates people dealing with the disease, as well as people who have never been affected by the disease.

Organizers of the walk aim to raise nearly $20,000 to help support cutting-edge research and provide programs and services for people with MS — an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. MS interrupts the flow of information within the brain and the body, and symptoms differ from person to person in their consistency and their progression. not everyone with MS is affected in the same way, but symptoms can range from tingling and numbness to blindness and paralysis.

While the cause of MS is unknown, it affects more than 400,000 people in the U.S. and 2.1 million worldwide. Most people diagnosed with MS are between the ages of 20 and 50, with at least two to three times more women being diagnosed than men.

“They call it the sneaky disease, because it sneaks up on you, and you get the attacks when you least expect them,” said Jamie Phillips, 49, who was diagnosed with MS in April 2005.

Former Aggie basketball standout Kelsey Crooks, 29, was also diagnosed with MS about four years ago. Kelsey will be the speaker at the MS Walk. Crooks, who once powered through daily practices for both basketball and soccer — he was an all-district star in both sports at Oñate High School — is now forced to use a cane on a daily basis, due to his lack of balance.

MS Walk Committee Chair Katie Baker said the MS Walk last year attracted around 100 people. This year, Baker said Mayor Ken Miyagishima is scheduled to attend the event, as well as several organizations and clubs, which she hopes will draw in a bigger crowd.

“The National Honor Society is going to be doing all of our volunteer work, we have the mariachis coming, the performing dance team is coming, ROTC is coming, cheerleaders and more, ” Baker said.

“An MS Walk is about rallying the community together to make them understand that we have a very good cause and we need people to be aware of that,” Phillips said.

Baker said there will also be checkpoints set up throughout the walk that will provide food and water to participants.

Baker stressed that anyone who would like to participate in the MS Walk in any way, needs to register first.

Anyone who would like to participate in the walk, volunteer or simply make a donation can register at walkMSnewmexico.org. Day-of event registration begins at 8 a.m. and the walk will start at 9 a.m.

Baker said there is no cost to register and participants can be as involved as they want to be. Dogs are also welcome at the walk.

Alexia Severson can be reached at (575) 541-5453.

Walk MS: Las Cruces

To register, volunteer or donate: Visit walkMSnewmexico.org

When: Saturday, registration begins at 8 a.m.; walk begins at 9:30 a.m.

Where: Young Park Pavilion

Dogs welcome

Additional info: (800) 344-4876

well the obvious one would be deformities but others are decrease activity, a dislike to handling, paralysis. but these dont always occur, if its not showing signs and u have the correct 10-12% UVB lighting and dusting feeders with calcium its probably ok

• jsosjsjs said,

  Cats can show signs of rabies in about 7 days after contracting it from a bite from a rabid animal. the only way to test an animal for rabies is for it to be killed and have it’s brain examined . But, cats can be kept on "rabies watch" for 10 days to see if they have rabies based on any symptoms.

  Symptoms vary as well as being different during the three stages of the rabies virus. Some animals seem to only have two stages. In brief, at first a cat may have a fever and frequently lick the site of the bite for a day or so. next, in the "furious form", the cat may be very agitated, lose all caution and fear, and be hypersensitive to noise and visual stimuli, including light. There is often aggressive and erratic behavior. the cat may then move on to seizures, then death. Some cats go on to the paralytic, "dumb", third stage, which causes increasing paralysis of the facial muscles, resulting in drooling or foaming at the mouth. Staggering and difficulty walking with the hind legs is sometimes noted. the cat may seem unusually tame along with some other signs. the animal weakens, stops breathing, then dies. This stage usually develops 2-4 days after the first signs of rabies are observed.

  Like or Dislike: 0  0

• Kathleen said,

  I don’t know but have they called their vet? if there is a chance of rabies, they’ll want the bat to test it and they may want to quarantine the cat.

  Like or Dislike: 0  0

• dressage artist said,

  Tell them to NOT wait for symptoms. They need to take him to a vet IMMEDIATELY. Waiting for signs can cause the cat physical and mental damage if they wait that long. it will be best for the cat, other pets in the vincity and the owners.Don’t wait for symptoms.

  Like or Dislike: 0  0

• `riot said,

  It can take anywhere between 2 weeks to 2 years.if the cat was vaccinated for rabies, he should be okay. if he wasn’t vaccinated, I recommend watching the animal for any signs and getting the animal vaccinated.There is only one way to test the animal. that requires the animal’s head to be decapitated and the brain to be observed for rabies.

  Like or Dislike: 0  0

My mother was exposed to TB as a young woman and then later developed a severe curvature of the spine. One doctor said said there might be a connection.

Tb of the spine is known as "Potts disease"
Symptoms include back pain or stiffness. lower extremity paralysis occurs in as many as half the patients with undiagnosed Potts disease.

Athletes who receive repeated blows to the head could be at greater risk of developing dementia later in life, according to a new study.

Scientists said they have found the strongest evidence yet that repeated concussions could cause nerve-degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.

Professional rugby players and boxers are just two of the groups who may be suffering long-term damage from their chosen careers.

The study provides the first evidence that repetitive head trauma in collision sports could be linked to the development of a motor neuron disease

Researchers from the University of Rochester in New York studied autopsies of 12 athletes who died with brain or neurological disease.

All had a newly characterized disease called chronic traumaticencephalopathy, or CTE, in which dementia set in years after repeatedconcussions.

Three of the men were also diagnosed with ALS, a member of a familyof diseases called motor neuron disease, which cause progressivelyworse paralysis.

The researchers looked specifically for a protein called TDP-43.They found it in the brain and in the spinal cords of the men – whichcould explain the symptoms.

Scientists know that damaging one nerve can sometimes set off acascade of other nerves dying, for reasons that remain poorlyunderstood and TDP-43 could be involved.

Experts in brain injury said the study, published in the Journal of Neuropathology & Experimental Neurology, pointed to new areas of research and possible ways to prevent long-term damage from concussions.

‘If you could somehow give a person a drug, you could potentially prevent an illness like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,’ commentor Dr Jeffrey Bazarian said.

Baseball players Lou Gehrig (left) and Babe Ruth at the Yankee Stadium in 1939. A link has been found between concussions and ALS also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The sportsman had this form of motor neuron disease.

The findings also point to an urgent need to monitor soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, many of whom suffer brain injuries from explosions, accidents and blows to the head.

‘This is the first pathological evidence that repetitive head trauma experienced in collision sports might be associated with the development of a motor neuron disease,’ said lead author Dr Ann McKee of Boston University School of Medicine.

Drugs including the hormone progesterone, monoclonal antibodies and the antibiotic minocycline are being studied to see if they can stop the process of nerve destruction that follows injuries such as a blow to the head or stroke.

David Hovda, director of the UCLA Traumatic Brain Injury Research Center, said: ‘I think it does is raise worries that individuals who had a career of exposure to repeat concussions … have a greater likelihood of developing motor neuron disease.’