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Early diagnosis is important because there are now treatment options available that may help to slow the progression of the disease. There are also treatment modalities that can help with school and social issues as well as concerns regarding cognition.
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Center for Youngsters With Multiple Sclerosis
Written by Stewart Ain, New York Times   
Tuesday, 22 October 2002
Stony Brook University Hospital has opened the nation's first center for the diagnosis and treatment of multiple sclerosis in youngsters.

Dr. Lauren B. Krupp, a professor of neurology at Stony Brook, is the director of the new center with Dr. Anita Belman, another Stony Brook neurologist.

Dr. Krupp estimated that 5 percent of the 250,000 to 350,000 Americans with multiple sclerosis are 17 or younger, and explained that although it has long been considered an adult disease, enough cases of childhood multiple sclerosis have been diagnosed in recent years to warrant establishment of the new center.

Johanna Biederman, president of the Long Island chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in Hauppauge, said the center was needed because multiple sclerosis in children has only been recognized in recent years due to improved diagnostic tools.

''The earlier it is diagnosed and treated, the better the outcome for the patient,'' she said.