If you're reading this booklet you've either just been, or are in the process of being, diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). Or you could be the partner, relative or friend of someone who's received this diagnosis. You may be experiencing a huge range of emotions, among them anger, shock, fear or even relief (especially if it has taken some time to be diagnosed). It's likely that you also have hundreds of questions, many of which you don't know who - or how - to ask. while we can't promise that we can provide all the answers here, this booklet aims to give you an introduction to MS and to provide the means for you to seek the information and support you need.

You didn't catch MS - you developed it. In simple terms, MS occurs when there is damage to the protective material - or myelin - around the nerves in the central nervous system. (The central nervous system is made up of your brain and spinal cord.) When myelin is damaged, messages are slower or distorted or do not get through at all, causing the symptoms of MS.

MS is an autoimmune disease, which means the body's immune system attacks its own tissue in the mistaken belief it's a foreign body. In the case of MS, the immune system attacks myelin in the brain and spinal cord.

The easiest way to understand what happens in MS is to think of your body as an electrical circuit, with your brain and spinal cord as the power source and your limbs and rest of your body as the lights, computers, TVs etc. Your nerves are the electric cables linking them all together and the myelin is the insulation around those cables. Now imagine that the insulation gets damaged. The result? Faulty or temperamental equipment, and a possible short-circuit.

MS isn't contagious and although it can't yet be cured, it's not a terminal or life-threatening illness. Like diabetes, it's known as a chronic condition, which means that once you've got it you've got it for life. Most people with MS live a normal life span, well into their seventies and eighties.

Research - into the causes of MS, new treatments for symptoms and new drugs to try to change the course of the disease - is going on all over the world and scientists have made significant progress in recent years. Although nobody has a crystal ball, doctors are optimistic that research will continue to discover more about MS and how it can be treated and managed.

The word sclerosis comes from the Greek 'skleros' meaning hard. In multiple sclerosis, hard areas called 'plaques' (also known as lesions or scars) develop around the damaged nerves. 'Multiple' refers to the many different areas of the central nervous system that may have damaged myelin. The lesions show up on scans but having lots of lesions or scars isn't always the same as saying that your MS is severe - many things about MS are complicated.