[Need for creating Polish registry of multiple sclerosis patients]. / O potrzebie stworzenia polskiego rejestru chorych na stwardnienie rozsiane.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common cause of neurological disability of young people. It is estimated that 40 000-60 000 people in the country suffer from MS, and approximately 2000 new cases are diagnosed annually. These are, however, estimated data and require verification by nation-wide research. Results published so far concern only certain regions of Poland. It is also vital to precisely describe the needs of patients in terms of immunomodulating treatment and to perform detailed pharmacoeconomical analysis. In order to estimate basic epidemiological parameters there is a need of creating, in imitation of many other countries, a national register of MS patients which would concentrate all assets concerning MS around this project. The article presented the most important of American and European databases and explained the basis of the Polish register of MS patients, which is already functioning in one of the regions.