1st National PLS Study Day

 Photo: Tripadvisor

There are a handful of us in Oxfordshire who have Primary Lateral Sclerosis, the slowest and rarest type of MND, and, I suppose, there's an equally sparse distribution nationwide. In fact its pathology, the way it develops, is so unusual that the experts aren’t agreed on whether it is truly a type of MND or an entirely separate condition. Anyway, that means that it is a Cinderella of MND research. In Oxford we are lucky to have a concentration of MND expertise, that PLS is not neglected, and is a hub for understanding the condition. I believe the idea of PLS Study Day originated with Professor Martin Turner; it was certainly organised by the Oxford MND Centre.

So on Friday 23^rd October about 120 of us – professionals, researchers, carers and people with PLS – gathered at the Oxford Spires Four Pillars Hotel on the Abingdon Road, to hear mercifully short presentations from our home team and from some “away” experts. “Mercifully” – not because they were boring, far from it, but because my attention span is limited. We heard about the characteristics of PLS – that was reassuring as I learned I wasn’t such a freak after all, but rather my symptoms and the way they progressed were pretty characteristic; we heard about what MRI and MEG scanning showed up, and a bit about genetics. What was most obvious was that a lot of very sharp minds were focused on the condition.

After a rather good lunch and the keynote lecture given by Dr Mary-Kay Floeter, the world’s leading specialist in PLS, based in Maryland, USA, which was brilliant, the focus switched from research to management, and again the home team led in this. It was informative, practical and helpful. All was well until Rachael Marsden, the Centre Coordinator, talked about a new smart phone app called Sex Diary, of which she showed a discreetly blank screen. As is the way with PLS, the collective risible nerve was tickled and only with difficulty pacified. Both the morning and afternoon sessions ended with patients’ questions answered by a panel of the experts.

It was an exceedingly good day, not least because of the opportunity to meet many others with the same condition with similar but different stories to tell. As we all know it helps to know that you’re not alone; and it helped to have explained what’s happening inside us. It was also brilliant to discover how many people are interested enough to devote their lives to studying the disease and to caring for us.