Elizabeth Kinder was diagnosed with MS three years ago. There is no cure for the disease, but a raft of trials provide hope for the 100,000 sufferers in the UK.
These are especially challenging times for sufferers of long-term degenerative diseases, in the face of cuts to research funding, huge changes to the way the NHS commissions services, and the biggest upheaval in the welfare system since 1945.
Trials are the best hope for sufferers, and Elizabeth was lucky to be accepted on a clinical trial at Charing Cross Hospital.
At Charing Cross she speaks to consultant neurologist Dr Richard Nicholas and Caroline D'Arcy, MS nurse at the hospital. She finds out why the unpredictability of MS makes sufferers especially vulnerable to benefits changes, and why the changes to NHS commissioning could make getting the right care more difficult.
She speaks to Jane Spink, director of policy and research at the MS Society, who reveals her concerns for MS research within the NHS.
And she talks to Alasdair Fraser about his experience of living with MS. He warns: "You just can't afford to get ill from now on."
Alasdair was diagnosed 16 years ago, when he was a 35-year-old advertising executive. He now uses a wheelchair, is unable to move his limbs, and his eyesight is deteriorating.
The MS Society provides a free phoneline for anyone newly diagnosed with MS: 0808 800 8000. Further information is available at mssociety.org.uk
