Jemma Barsby on being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis

TALENTED cricketer Jemma Barsby - the daughter of former Queensland Sheffield Shield player Trevor Barsby - is among a rising numbers of Australians being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

Brisbane Heat bowler Jemma Barsby. Picture: AAP image, John Gass

TALENTED cricketer Jemma Barsby is among a rising numbers of Australians being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis – but she’s refusing to let the condition get in the way of her goal of representing her country.

Data from the Menzies Institute for Medical Research estimates 25,600 Australians live with the neurological disorder, a rise of 4400 in eight years.

While the reason for the jump is unclear, MS Research Australia chief executive Matthew Miles said the average time between a person first experiencing symptoms and then being diagnosed had reduced significantly in recent decades, allowing for earlier treatment.

Fortunately for 22-year-old Brisbane Heat off-spinner Barsby – the daughter of former Queensland Sheffield Shield player Trevor Barsby – she was diagnosed with a “milder form of the disease”. She takes a daily dose of an immunotherapy drug, Gilenya, to delay the frequency and severity of relapses.

“It’s made me not take life for granted,” she said. “To be able to do what I love, to be able to play cricket, still is amazing.”

Dr Miles said few medications were available to treat the most severe form, primary progressive multiple sclerosis, which affects about 15 per cent of patients.