About 500 neurologists from all over Europe are meeting in Malta, discussing the long-term aspects of multiple sclerosis.

Preliminary results of a 16-year placebo-controlled study for a medication to treat the condition will be presented during the symposium.

Multiple sclerosis - or MS - is a chronic, unpredictable disease of the central nervous system (which is made up of the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves). Symptoms of the condition vary from person to person. The symptoms take place when the body's immune system attacks and destroys the protective insulation surrounding the central nervous system's nerve fibres, with the damage interfering with nerve communication.

Although there is no cure for multiple sclerosis, treatment help lessen the effect of the symptoms and reduce the frequency of relapses. In Malta there are over 100 people suffering from the condition, a member of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Malta told The Times. The society has about 80 members.

The neurologists are meeting in a symposium, held annually in different countries by the pharmaceutical company Schering.

"Every year, the experts get together to discuss a different aspect of multiple sclerosis, which is a very vast topic," one of the Schering organisers said. He said the long-term effects of the disease and the importance of long-term studies on drugs to treat the symptoms will be discussed.

Maltese neurologists, including the head of St Luke's Hospital's Neurology Department, Anthony Galea Debono, are expected to attend the symposium.