Multiple Sclerosis: The White Man's Disease (Hr. 2)

Priya Sankaran with her mother Radha.

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CBC Radio-Canada

When CBC journalist Priya Sankaran was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, at first, she didn't understand.

Her family comes from India. She had never met another brown-skinned women with MS in Canada. Ms. Sankaran went to India to find out why.

Multiple Sclerosis is a neurological condition that causes immense fatigue, can destroy speech and vision and ultimately paralyze.

There is no cure. No one knows what causes it. One of the most prevalent ideas, is that MS is triggered by a vitamin D deficiency. Not enough sunshine.

And it seems to be a disease reserved for people of European ancestry.

When Ms. Sankaran left for India, she was also considering a controversial new MS treatment known as Liberation Therapy.

Priya Sankaran's documentary is called The White Man's Disease.

Click here for an essay she wrote, to accompany the documentary.

Without proper dwellings

2013-02-09 A number of families in the Welimada Pradeshiya Sabha area have been living in shanties for generations, but the authorities have failed to provide them with adequate housing facilities