Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This episode is proudly supported by Novartis, with expert input from MS Australia. Ready?
And good morning!
This is the Daily Oz.
This is the Daily Oz.
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Oh, now it makes sense.
MUSIC
Good morning and welcome to The Daily Oz. I'm Emma Gillespie. I'm Billie Fitzsimons. Today we're talking about a disease that nearly 38,000 Australians are living with right now. It's one that many of us don't really understand and one that, according to a new national survey, most Australians haven't even heard of. Multiple sclerosis or MS.
There's also a significant gap between our attitudes and what life actually looks like for people living with MS. So where did this gap come from and why hasn't it caught up with us yet? We'll talk you through the findings from this research in today's deep dive.
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Chapter 2: What is Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and why is it significant?
So it's quite interesting to be talking about a disease of this nature that really does affect young people and women so significantly. The most common form of MS is something called relapsing remitting MS or RRMS. This accounts for the majority of diagnoses, about 85%.
I think there's that actress from Legally Blonde. Selma Blair.
Yes. Yeah. And she has MS. Yes. She's a really prominent face of, I guess, MS globally. That's the actress you're talking about from Legally Blonde. She's often seen on red carpets, absolutely slaying with an awesome cane. She usually matches her cane to her outfit, but that's correct.
You're thinking of the right person. Yeah. I think that is how I have come to know MS is by watching her do interviews. And like you said, watching her on the red carpet and-
yeah seeing um how she goes about her life every single day yeah that visibility I think is a really important piece to what we're going to get into that you know if you don't know or see anyone with MS you can't always imagine what their lived experience is like yes
Okay, and so we're talking about it today because a new national survey has explored Australians' understanding of MS and how those beliefs impact the people who are actually living with MS. So what did that survey, who was it by, did you say?
So it's a new national survey. It was commissioned by Novartis with recruitment supported by MS Australia. And what did it find when it comes to people's attitudes towards MS? Well, it turns out that most Australians actually have misconceptions about MS. So many people carry a quite outdated image, especially when it comes to what an RRMS diagnosis can look like.
That's that most common form of MS. So according to these findings, basically, when most of us think of someone living with MS, we might picture a wheelchair, maybe a carer, maybe a life that looks dramatically different from our own day-to-day lives.
And I mean, I picture Selma Blair on the red carpet. Did it once mean that people who had it would need to be in a wheelchair, but because of how medicine has changed and technology that it no longer does look like that?
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Chapter 3: How do Australians perceive life with MS?
I think both of their insights were so important for this episode. 100%. And thank you so much for listening to this special bonus episode of The Daily Oz on this Sunday. We'll be back tomorrow with a normal deep dive, but until then, we hope you have a great day.
My name is Lily Madden and I'm a proud Arundar, Bundjalung, Kalkadoon woman from Gadigal country. The Daily Aus acknowledges that this podcast is recorded on the lands of the Gadigal people and pays respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations. We pay our respects to the First Peoples of these countries, both past and present.
Today's episode is proudly supported by Novartis with expert input from MS Australia. And now for a message from MS Australia. It's important to acknowledge that MS does not look the same for everyone. For some people, MS includes disease progression or disability that impacts everyday life in ways that are not always visible.
With one in three Australians living with MS relying on support services to maintain their quality of life. These experiences are an important part of the MS story. MS Australia remains committed to supporting and advocating for people living with MS in all its forms.