Multiple sclerosis is a disease on the down low.

The central nervous system disorder afflicts 400,000 Americans and can cause numbness, tingling, blindness or paralysis. But MS patients don't have their own weekend telethon, the way Jerry's Kids do.

It largely afflicts women but doesn't have its own color the way breast cancer does. B-list celebrities such as Annette Funicello and Montel Williams have MS. But they don't attract the public awareness or sympathy that Michael J. Fox does for Parkinson's.

Even many with MS don't talk openly about it.

But Saturday, multiple sclerosis unapologetically will burst onto the Roanoke region's public consciousness with its annual Walk MS fundraiser.

And in a new development, the Blue Ridge chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society reached a deal last week to partner with the Blue Ridge Bicycle Club's Artie Levin Memorial Rides. The annual fall cycling event will become an official fundraiser for the regional MS chapter.

"In a lot of ways, it's a disease that's not talked about," said Catherine Turner, the chapter's development director. "By having these events, I think people are finally going to open up more about it."

Julie Golimowski has lived quietly with the disease for two years. The Roanoke magazine publisher plans to write a personal essay about MS in the final edition of her quilting magazine in July.

"It's a very low-profile disease," said Golimowski, 50."You just worry if people know you have it, they will think you're not competent -- that they would lose confidence in my ability."

Golimowski said she decided to go public after seeing all of the attention directed at breast cancer. A greater awareness of MS will generate more money for research.

And that will lead, hopefully, to a cure.

Multiple sclerosis is a disease in which the body attacks itself. Misguided cells destroy the fatty myelin that coats nerve cells in the brain, leaving scars that prevent the nerves from doing their jobs. The progress and severity of the disease varies widely in patients.

MS affects more than 3,000 families in the Blue Ridge region, which includes 51 counties in and around Western Virginia. Last year's MS walk drew 300 people and raised $42,000.

Saturday will mark Golimowski's first MS walk. She won't be walking just for herself. She will think of her good college friend who has been hard hit with the disease.

"I'm going to walk because she can't walk," Golimowski said.

Registration for Saturday's 1- and 3-mile walks begins at 9 a.m. at Patrick Henry High School or online at www.walkmsva.org. For details about the walk or the self-help group, call (800) 344-4867.

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