Telling your patient he/she has multiple sclerosis

It is difficult to tell a person that s/he has multiple sclerosis. The diagnosis is based on clinical findings and often cannot be made on first meeting. In many cases investigations do not help. When the diagnosis is made, the patient should be fully informed in the majority of cases. Guidelines have been developed for imparting the diagnosis. Early diagnosis will become increasingly important with the development of new treatments for multiple sclerosis.