How Many People Have MS? A Case Study of the UK

Abstract

This chapter is concerned primarily with establishing an estimate of the number of people with Multiple Sclerosis (PwMS) in the United Kingdom (UK) and the ways in which that number may change through time, the ‘components of change’. It begins by placing the UK in an international context, demonstrating it is a country with one of the highest MS prevalence rates in the world; a finding that of itself helps to justify the geographical emphasis of this book. It then reviews the various estimates for the number of PwMS in the UK before considering first how MS varies within and between its four constituent countries and, second how the separate components of change have influenced these numbers.