A new information pack for people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) has been welcomed by a woman whose sister and cousin also suffer from the life-long condition.

About 100 people a week in the UK are diagnosed with it, usually when they are in their twenties and thirties, and a study by the MS Trust revealed less than 12 per cent are given the information they need at the beginning.

This leads to unnecessary anxiety and misunderstanding into the condition that affects the brain and spinal cord.

Now the trust has produced an information pack, which Wimbledon resident Julie Gould said she wished she had been given when she found out she had MS.

Mrs Gould, of South Park Road, said: "I was diagnosed 20 years ago and there was nothing.

"I was told I had MS but I didn’t know what that was.

"They shook my hand and ushered me out the door. My story was a common one at the time.

"There was no internet or mobile phones. We had to research in a telephone directory.

"We had no idea where to turn."

Mrs Gould, whose sister and cousin unusually also have MS, said having information about the benefits available to MS sufferers who are too ill to work is invaluable.

The new information pack, launched at the beginning of the month, provides people with information and resources about the condition that they can investigate at their leisure.

Approximately 100,000 people in the UK have MS, with over 5,000 more people diagnosed every year.

The report found 72 per cent of people with MS would have been less stressed if they had been given the right information when diagnosed.

The Making Sense of MS resource has been developed in partnership with people with MS and the clinicians who work with them, to provide practical introductory information at the point of diagnosis.

To find out more about the MS Trust’s campaign Making Sense of MS, and to view the information pack visit the website or following the charity on Twitter @MSTrust.