Swindon charity encourages awareness for neurological diseases
This week is MS Awareness Week
Last updated 18th Aug 2025
A Swindon-based charity is calling for more awareness for neurological diseases like Multiple Sclerosis.
MS is a progressive autoimmune disease which attacks the so-called myelin sheath – protective covering around the nerves.
However, the disease is often largely invisible from the outside which makes it difficult for others to spot.
Debi Isaac-Taylor, CEO of Swindon’s Neuro Wellbeing Centre, told Greatest Hits Radio: “Unseen conditions like MS can be really debilitating for the person living with them.
“Others can be totally unaware that they've got a condition and that they're suffering from symptoms or they can be even sceptical that they are actually experiencing something.”
A diagnosis can be life changing
One in six people in the UK will experience a neurological condition at some point in their lives – a big part of which is MS.
At the Neuro Wellbeing Centre, around two in five (40%) clients have an MS diagnosis.
Many cases of MS are detected before the patient turns 40 which means a diagnosis can be life changing.
Aggressive forms of the disease can lead people to have to change their careers or quit work altogether while others might need a wheelchair to get around.
Typical symptoms of MS include extreme fatigue, muscle weakness, numbness, tingling, vision problems and acute pain.
“Living with any long-term condition can be really hard and really frightening”, added Ms. Isaac-Taylor.
“You can offer support in lots of ways. You can find out a little bit about the symptoms of MS, do a bit of research and be there to be supportive, particularly when those symptoms are hidden. You can encourage people who have an MS diagnosis to talk about it, because that's really important and there are several MS charities at the moment who are really focused on having a conversation with people with MS so that they feel heard.”
Treatments only help the symptoms
Even though there is currently no cure for MS, there are treatments that manage the symptoms and make it easier for people to live their everyday lives.
This can include medications, diets and exercising.
The Neuro Wellbeing Centre also owns an oxygen chamber which – despite it not being a proven method of treatment – clients find helps ease their symptoms.
The technology was first developed in the 1980s and a patient from Swindon was among those who decided to trial it.
“Our charity started as a self-help group for people with MS and one of the first things that self-help group did was buy an oxygen chamber which in those days, was very, very new technology”, explained Ms. Isaac-Taylor.
“One of our still existing members was part of that self-help group and he was diagnosed with MS before he was 40, so he decided to be a guinea pig for that oxygen chamber. It was only when he got to the pub after having oxygen for the first time that he realised he'd left his sticks behind.
“So, for some people, oxygen therapy can be absolutely transformative. And 40 years later, he's still having oxygen therapy because he thinks it manages his symptoms really well.
“He's 80 now and he's still mobile and everything else, so he's brilliant.”
Oxygen chambers are not routinely available through the NHS.
Further information on Multiple Sclerosis and treatment options can be found at www.neurowellbeingcentre.co.uk.