You can watch Jason DaSilva’s film in the link below!
https://www.thirteen.org/programs/nova/predicting-my-ms-37od5v/
One of the most common threads I have found linking patients that have been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis is that we share the common curiosity of “Why?” What exactly caused us to develop MS? What triggers contributed to our new reality? Did we happen to make choices in our earlier years that set off a domino effect leading up to our diagnosis? Did we do this to ourselves?
I’m sure 99.9% of you reading this have asked yourself at least one of these questions throughout your post MS diagnosis.
A short film was recently dropped in my inbox about a young man’s journey through his diagnosis with Multiple Sclerosis. The film “Predicting my MS” takes us through the life of Jason DaSilva. A passionate, talented artist and film maker whose life was turned upside down by his Primary Progressive Diagnosis or PPMS at the young age of 26.
DaSilva was determined to find answers after being told he had PPMS. Patients with Multiple Sclerosis in my opinion share a thread of resilience. The sort of “Make it work and get it done” sort of attitude. I see this a lot in fellow MS Warriors and for Jason, he truly has found a way of taking his diagnosis and bringing education, positivity and motivation to the table.
I honestly applaud this guy so much not just for putting his life story out there for the world to see but by the way he decided to go about it; incorporating education, science, research and his own personal goals in his film.
The film would be extremely beneficial to anyone either already living with Multiple Sclerosis or for friends and family that want to know more about MS and offer their support.
Jason takes us through his quest to find answers- exploring the science behind Multiple Sclerosis from its very early years of exploration in 1868 all the way to its first treatments in 1951, branching out to the use of MRI imaging to diagnosis the onset of MS in 2001. He shares his knowledge of treatments, risk factors and statistics for MS patients. Did you know that only 15% of MS patients have PPMS? That is 1 case per 2222 people. This led Jason to continue his quest of “Why me?”
Throughout the film you are introduced to many DaSilva family members as it was pertinent to Jason’s mission to interview each of them as he dug deeper into the family medical history to find answers. As he went down the line one family member at a time he seemed to be the only one in his family with any neurological disorders. Watching this portion of the film was beautiful to me as you could really see the commitment his family had in his mission to find answers.
Although Jason did not find a link of other family members having the same or similar diseases he did discover that he in fact has Russian and German decent. Fun fact for the DaSilva family.
Jason’s research was able to even breakdown the age range in which most MS patients begin showing symptoms. Which can be anywhere between 20-40 years old. PPMS however is a bit different regarding diagnostic ages, ranging from 30-50 years old. It was also found that there are more female MS patients than men. Interesting. Jason dove right into the variations of sex hormones and body fat distribution that could be also be considered risk factors of developing MS. Did you know that people with Asian decent are less likely to develop MS? I have no idea myself!
This film maker and MS warrior goes as far as looking at geological factors that may play a role in the risk factors of MS. Having grown up in South Florida, DaSilva always shared a love for nature and wildlife, along with quality family time and playing sports with friends. You can see the passion this kid had growing up. His joy seemed infectious.
When Jason was 14 the DaSilva family made the move to Vancouver Canada. Quite a switch from South Florida! Today Jason questioned if moving actually contributed to his risk factor. In the film he describes the risk factor as being a cup of water that you pour into a bucket. Each risk factor is a glass. But if you take multiple risk factors and continue to pour them into the bucket then after a while the bucket will be full. Thus giving the person an even higher risk of developing MS.
He goes as far as investigating any harmful chemicals he had been subjected to as a kid growing up as a photographer and artist. Could exposure to possible chemicals have added a glass into his risk bucket? He had even been working as a disaster and relief counselor after 9/11 and was working directly across the street from ground zero. Research is still being done to see if the chemicals and toxins in the air contributed to different autoimmune disorders yet there is still not even evidence to support this. Although it does seem rather obvious doesn’t it?
DaSilva found other possible risk factors being head trauma at an early age, smoking or even the Epstein Barr Virus and people that had Mono growing up.
Throughout researching possible risk factors that would lead him to answers, Jason seemed to find that it doesn’t take one trigger to contribute to a possible MS risk but Multiple. Hence the name. Multiple Sclerosis.
Jason has found ways to give back to his community despite his setbacks. If you’ve ever heard of AxS Map- that’s Jason’s creation! An app to rate and review venues based on their accessability for people with disabilities. Pretty genius if you ask me.
While DaSilva did not find the exact reason why he in particular developed Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis, he has found so that regardless of his new reality he will still pursue filmmaking and bringing awareness to the Multiple Sclerosis Community. Hats off to this warrior to turning something difficult into something empowering and strengthening.
“One day there will be a fuller understanding about why people get multiple sclerosis. But I do know that while we can’t control everything that happens to us. We can lean on each other for support.” - Jason DaSilva