Shana L. Johnson, MD, Editor

George H. Kraft, MD, MS, Editor

So it is time again for an issue on MS. I thank Dr Carter for asking Dr Shana Johnson and me to guest edit this issue and find myself in the unusual position of writing a Preface—not a Foreword—as I had done for over 30 years. Shana Johnson, MD, is the Co-Director of the University of Washington MS Center, and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the university. Dr Johnson had her PM&R residency at UT Southwestern in Dallas, and her MS Fellowship training program at the University of Washington. After a period of practice in Olympia, Washington—the state capital—where she established an MS clinic, we were fortunate to recruit her back to the UW to become Co-director of the UW MS Clinic.

How does this issue differ from the previous three issues on MS? One answer is obvious: understanding and management of MS are rapidly evolving—arguably faster than any other disorder followed by physiatrists. The understanding of the mechanism of MS, awareness that the disease actually represents more than one disease having different etiologies and mechanisms, new DMTs, the advent of the first “physiatric drug” (dalfampridine—Ampyra), which can improve walking in patients with MS, are all advances not known at the time of the publication of the last MS issue.

Many of these advances are covered in this issue. But perhaps the greatest deviation from previous MS issues is noted in the title: “Rehabilitation.” This issue is the first MS issue dedicated solely to the rehabilitation of MS. I thank Dr Shana Johnson for her shepherding of this issue to make it the definitive text on MS rehabilitation. And again, I want to thank Dr Greg Carter for asking us to be co-guest editors.