Postscript: The future

Abstract

There is a lot of evidence to support our view that research into multiple sclerosis has reached an important and exciting stage (see chapter 1). Many research workers believe that the discovery of 2m aetiological agent is imminent. This must be tempered by the evidence that the disease does seem to be multifactorial: age, sex, heredity and geography all appear to be important. If the disease is due to a virus, is it a well known virus or is it a new type of virus? Whatever the research workers find in the next few years, the question will still be asked, ‘What does it mean to the patient who already has the disease?’