Multiple sclerosis, or MS, is an autoimmune disease affecting the central nervous system that’s typically diagnosed when someone is between the ages of 20 and 40.

An estimated 400,000 Americans have been diagnosed with MS, but while those people are united by their diagnosis, the effects of MS can vary significantly from person to person. That can make diagnosis alone difficult, and it can make treatment and management of the disease’s symptoms even harder. That’s where physical therapy comes in.

In this episode, physical therapist Evan T. Cohen, PT, MA, PhD, NCS, describes how physical therapy can address the unique needs of people with MS, a condition that rarely affects two people in quite the same way.

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Read more about multiple sclerosis.

Evan T. Cohen, PT, MA, PhD, NCS, has been a physical therapist for 24 years, and a board certified neurologic specialist for 14 years. He has published and presented nationally and internationally on physical therapy for people with MS, and has served as an expert on MS rehabilitation projects for the American Physical Therapy Association and his local chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. He has worked with patients with MS in a number of healthcare settings, such as hospitals, rehabilitation centers, outpatient clinics, and in home health care. He is currently an associate professor in the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program-South at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.