Lehigh Valley Fleming Neuroscience Institute resource provides compassionate, comprehensive care
Lehigh Valley Fleming Neuroscience Institute’s Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Center, established in 2011, has been recertified for another two years by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
The recertification came this past summer for the center, the only one of its kind in the Lehigh Valley. Nearly 1 million people in the U.S. are affected by MS as are nearly 3 million worldwide. The Neuroscience Institute’s MS Center cared for more than 2,000 patients last year.
“We were one of the first centers in the area designated as a comprehensive MS center and we continue to strive to offer aggressive treatment to tackle the disease,” neurologist Gary Clauser, MD, says. Clauser, co-director of the MS Center along with neurologist Dmitry Khaitov, MD, says the center can manage all MS symptoms.
Newly diagnosed MS patients are quickly enrolled in treatment at the MS Center, which pledges to see each new patient within a week to begin testing and determine the most appropriate treatment. The center has locations at LVH Neurology–1250 Cedar Crest and LVPG Neurology–Muhlenberg.
MS affects your central nervous system, including your brain, spinal cord and optic nerves. The body’s immune system damages myelin, the insulation around nerve fibers, and that plays havoc with signals to and from your brain. MS affects each person differently and typically includes unpredictable symptoms such as numbness, tingling, mood changes, memory problems, pain, fatigue, blindness or paralysis. Symptoms can be both brief and long-lasting. Most MS patients don’t develop severe disability.
There is no known cure.
As part of the recertification process, the MS Center completed a detailed questionnaire to demonstrate how they provide comprehensive care and support the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s care model.
In addition to Clauser and Khaitov, the MS team includes:
The center also has an infusion center, open weekdays. A person with MS patient may receive medication by infusion (intravenous) to treat symptoms or flare-ups.
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society says there are more potential therapies in development today than at any other time in history. “We know more about MS today than we ever have and we’re more hopeful than ever,” Clauser says. “I’m extremely proud of our entire team and our focus on helping our patients live their best lives.”
