The 'three days'

Multiple sclerosis, Aism apples in the squares to fund scientific research

Over the weekend, 3 million apples were distributed by 14,000 volunteers to inform and raise awareness about the disease that affects 144,000 sufferers in Italy still without adequate care pathways

by Davide Madeddu

4 October 2025

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Apples to support research. Because, despite the progress made, there is still a long way to go to 'defeat' multiple sclerosis, the disease that affects the central nervous system. That is why for three days (from 3 to 5 October) in 5 thousand Italian squares "La Mela di Aism", the information, awareness and fundraising event promoted by Aism, the Italian Multiple Sclerosis Association, under the High Patronage of the President of the Republic, will be back for three days. The proceeds of the initiative will go towards scientific research and the strengthening of services in the area for people with multiple sclerosis and related diseases.

Of 144,000 sick people, 10% 'uncovered'

Across Italy, according to the AISM 'Barometer Sm', there are approximately 144,000 people living with this pathology. And about 10% live 'without a certain reference point, without adequate care and social assistance'. According to the Hard to Reach survey, people living with this disease are between 45 and 60 years old, have to cope with eight symptoms, and in 47% of cases also face other concomitant chronic pathologies. As a result, 'they live in a critical situation and the system remains inert in the face of their needs'. Not only that, the Barometer data 'show that all people with MS are at risk of exclusion'.

Costs

Within this framework, the question of costs fits in and very often becomes decisive. On average, the amount spent for a person with MS ranges from a minimum of 46,400 euros per year, to over 63,000 euros in the most serious cases. In these, families come to spend more than EUR 14,000 a year out of their own pocket, mainly to cover the costs of care.

'Multiple sclerosis costs Italian society EUR 6.7 billion a year,' the Barometer reads. 'However, public expenditure per person with MS is between EUR 22,000 and EUR 23,000 a year, with no proportional increase with the increase in disability, highlighting the inadequacy of responses in the most severe cases.

The Sardinia case

In the national and international scenario, Sardinia holds the sad record of being the region with the highest frequency. On the island, as the Barometer also emphasises, in calculating the prevalence, which on average is about 233 per 100,000 inhabitants, the figure rises to 430. The same goes for incidence, ahead of the average calculation that sees 6 per 100,000 inhabitants, in Sardinia it is 12.

A case that, as emphasised by Professor Eleonora Cocco, director of the Regional Centre for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis at the Binaghi Hospital in Cagliari, is 'an exception to the latitude rule' according to which the highest number of cases is recorded at high latitudes. Determining this surge in cases are 'genetic and environmental factors'. Over the years, something has, however, changed.

Early treatment

'Research has gone a long way and we have a lot of drugs that are being used in treatment,' she argues, 'some are powerful and strong, others more moderate and may have different effects. The main point is to 'start early with highly effective therapies and start a preventive discourse'. The reason is quickly explained: 'A young person has a plastic nervous system that can compensate well for certain problems,' he says, 'and some effects cannot be seen. As time goes on, problems manifest themselves because the nervous system also ages'. For this reason, he emphasises that 'the approach with early therapy is the most important of all'. Then there are other aspects that must not be neglected, such as 'lifestyle, because genetic predisposition is not enough to make the disease appear'.

Motor activity "second therapy"

Also under observation is the interaction with the environment and certain factors such as 'vitamin d deficiency, infection with the virus that causes mononucleosis, cigarette smoking, and dietary aspects that interact with the microbiota'. Then there is another aspect to which the scientific world turns its attention, and it concerns motor activity, which 'is becoming increasingly indispensable'. It is no coincidence that it is considered a 'second therapy associated with the main one, which is pharmacological'. And then there are the obstacles that arise when disability arises.