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Teen With MS Glad Research Has Come So Far

Ashlyn and Dr. Teri Schreiner
Ashlyn and Dr. Teri Schreiner (credit: CBS)

DENVER (CBS4) - Walk MS is not just a walk – it's an effort to change lives and fight a disease that affects thousands of people in our state. The money raised helps fund important research. Some of that research has led to three new oral treatments.

Strong at 16, Ashlyn is living proof of how advancements in multiple sclerosis research are changing lives.

"I woke up one morning and I had ringing in my ears and I was really dizzy," Ashlyn said.

She noticed something was wrong when she was 13, and a year later, she found out she had MS.

"Once we figured it out and once I got put on medicine it was a relief just to know that I was going to be okay," she said.

MS is a mysterious disease that affects the central nervous system by disrupting the flow of information from the brain to the body.

Colorado has one of the highest rates of MS in the country, which is why raising money at Walk MS is so critical.

"We've made incredible strides with MS over 25 years," Dr Teri Schreiner with University of Colorado Hospital said.

MS is rare in teenagers, but Schreiner says new treatments are helping make life easier.

"Within the last month there's been a new medication for treatment of multiple sclerosis," Schreiner said. "We now have three oral options; medications that are pills that are used to slow the progression of the disease."

Ashlyn will be trying the new oral medication; something she prefers over the daily injections. She doesn't let her MS keep her down and says raising money is key to finding a cure.

"As time goes on our technologies and everything are only going to progress, and I think that in the next 25 years, if we don't have a cure, we're going be very close," Ashlyn said. "I know we'll find a cure someday, we just need the time and resources to put it all together."

Donations are critical to finding a cure for MS. That's why CBS4 hopes Coloradans will participate in the MS Society's Walk MS on Saturday, May 4 at Denver's City Park. For more information and on how to register for the walk, visit the MS Society's website.

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