MS Care of Connecticut Opens

Offers State’s First Comprehensive Multiple Sclerosis Treatment Center

Norwich, CT: Neurology Associates has announced the opening of MS Care of Connecticut, the State’s first comprehensive treatment facility for people who have Multiple Sclerosis. Derek Smith, MD was the leader of the creation of this facility and has been named the Director.

MS Care will deliver management of care on a continuum so that patients receive the best care and guidance at all courses of the disease including timely and accurate diagnosis, therapeutic relationship with the interdisciplinary team, functional abilities maximized, effective disease management skills and strategies, adherence to integrated plan of care and optimal health-related quality of life.

MS Care of Connecticut is located at One Towne Park Plaza in Norwich, Connecticut and may be contacted at 860.886.1433 or www.mscarect.org

Dr. Smith is a nationally recognized MS researcher and clinician. Over the past 11 years, he has provided tertiary care for difficult MS cases at Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where he helped to set up MS Centers. He has been principal investigator of a number of multi-center MS clinical trials.

“With approximately 6,000 state residents living with MS, it was clear that it was important to have a facility that can accommodate these patients and deliver the highest levels of care,” Smith explained. “We will have all of the specialists under one roof - neurologists, Social Workers, Infusion Services, Radiology Occupational Therapy, Neuropsychology and Psychiatry, Neurosurgery/Pain Management, Urology and Ophthalmology as well as the latest MRI technology. Our experienced and caring staff understands the medical, social and financial challenges characteristic of MS and is committed to improving the quality of life for our patients.”

MS Care of Connecticut also has an important developing research component. This includes MRI analysis research, Endocrine and Behavioral Studies in MS patients, as well as Clinical Trials to test oral or monoclonal antibody agents, which appear to have the potential for improved efficacy with better tolerability than currently available drugs.

Multiple Sclerosis Care of Connecticut is recognized by international MS leadership organizations, such as the Consortium of MS Centers and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, who connect MS experts for the purpose of sharing information and knowledge.

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic, sometimes disabling disease of the central nervous system. MS symptoms range from mild ones — such as slight numbness of the limbs — to the more severe, such as loss of vision and paralysis. Other common symptoms can include vision impairment, tingling and numbness of the skin and limbs, loss of coordination, difficulty with walking, weakness and exhaustion, stiff muscles, memory loss, dizziness and depression. Patients with multiple sclerosis can go into remission, experiencing none of the typical symptoms of multiple sclerosis, and function normally for long periods. Multiple Sclerosis is one of the most common yet challenging neurological diseases of young adults and it affects more than 400,000 individuals in the United States

Notable people with MS include actress Annette Funicello, actress Teri Garr, talk show host, Montel Williams, comedian Richard Pryor, David Lander, "Squiggy" on Laverne & Shirley, writer Joan Didion, Jonathan Katz, creator and star of "Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist”, and most notable, President Jeb Bartlett from NBC’s Emmy-Winning West Wing played by Martin Sheen.