My mother died of MS in 1981. Towards the end of her life, she was totally incapacitated, unable to feed or care for herself. I was diagnosed with MS in 1999. I was determined that this was not going to be my fate. Fortunately, my career as a Professor in Emergency Medicine and background as Editor-in-Chief of a major medical journal gave me the tools to sort through the medical literature on MS. What I found startled me. With commitment to the right lifestyle changes, there is the real probability that many people with MS can live long, healthy lives relatively free of the usual problems associated with the illness.Since 1999, I have adhered to the lifestyle package I put together from the medical literature, described in my book Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis. So have many other people around the world with MS. I remain free of further relapses, as do many of the people who keep in contact with me. My mission now is to bring this evidence to a wider audience, working with the wonderful team at the UK-based international charity also called Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis. I am now Professor and Head of the Neuroepidemiology Unit (NEU) within the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health at The University of Melbourne, Australia. The NEU's charter is to investigate the modifiable lifestyle risk factors that predict the progression of MS with a view to refining a preventive medicine approach to management of the disease.