MS affects African Americans and Hispanics in different ways compared with other ethnic groups. Symptoms may differ, the disease may progress faster, and treatments may have different effects. Yet African Americans and Hispanics are underrepresented in clinical research, making it difficult to identify the best treatments or wellness activities to help them.
The
National MS Society is working with the MS Minority Research Engagement Partnership Network, a group of non-profit organizations, health care professionals, researchers, MS biopharmaceutical companies, and people with MS, to better understand why racial and ethnic minorities aren’t fully represented in research and to develop solutions to encourage participation. Download the
Minority Engagement in MS Research Patient Recruitment Toolkit for Health Care Professionals for tools and resources to help you talk to patients about research. Learn more about the project at
www.acceleratedcure.org/MinorityNetwork and follow Twitter posts on this topic with #MSResearch4All.