Saba Art and Cultural Institute in Tehran opened a visual art exhibition on Saturday, alongside other cultural activities, to help raise public awareness about multiple sclerosis (MS).
Titled “Storks Symphony,” the exhibit features 500 artworks including painting, photography, illustration, poster, caricature and sculptor that will run until July 16, Mehr News Agency reported on its Persian website.
The event is the third annual cultural event of its kind about the illness that aims to inform the public and promote the confidence and artistic skills in MS patients. It will also hold creative writing, script writing, poetry and handicraft workshops.
On the sidelines of the program Mehrdad Shahlae, an Everest climber who suffers from the illness for over 25 years, will hold a photo exhibition and workshop on his Mount Everest expedition.
MS is a potentially disabling disease of the brain and spinal cord (central nervous system).
In MS, the immune system attacks the protective sheath that covers nerve fibers and causes communication problems between the brain and rest of the body.
However many people with MS do not become severely disabled and most have a normal or near-normal lifespan.
The number of MS patients in Iran in recent years has increased to more than 80,000. According to Hossein Pakdaman, head of Iranian Neuroscience Society, Vitamin D deficiency, climate change and genetics are the main factors contributing to the disease in the country.
“Tehran and Isfahan have the highest MS population. Until 2014 the disease was incurable in Iran but 14 types of medications have now partially cured the disease or brought it under control,” he said.
People with other autoimmune diseases, especially type 1 diabetes, thyroid, or inflammatory bowel disease, are at a slightly increased risk of developing MS.
Saba Art and Cultural Institute is located at No. 1552, Taleghani St, Valiasr St.
