Some in the MS community were disaffected by this situation. They felt the MS movement should concentrate solely on services for people living with MS. Perhaps the mystery was too complex to be solved. The National MS Society, which by 1960 had established 114 local chapters to provide services for individuals and families, kept up the scientific assault.

To bring order to the medical management of MS, the Society funded a panel of experts, headed by Dr. George Schumacher, to draw up standard guidelines for MS diagnosis. Although they have been refined since, these standards are still in use today. At the same time, a rating scale for determining the level of disability and the parts of the nervous system affected by MS was refined by Dr. John Kurtzke.

Having standards helped doctors make earlier, more accurate diagnoses and allowed research on treatments to be conducted with greater reliability.

Reference

Written by Loren A. Rolak, MD. Reproduced by permission from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, USA. © NMSS, 2003