Ann Romney’s openness about her struggles with multiple sclerosis has cheered MS patient advocates who say her experiences have raised awareness along with the hopes of the estimated 400,000 Americans who have the disease.

But she’s not the only reason MS advocates have to cheer these days.

A number of promising new MS therapies are in the pipeline that are expected to dramatically help people like the wife of GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney as well as many other Americans with the debilitating neurological condition.

“Because MS is such an unpredictable disease which affects each person in a unique way, every new treatment option that becomes available to people living with MS offers new hope for an improved quality of life,” said Dr. Nicholas LaRocca, vice president of healthcare delivery and policy research at the National MS Society.

Dr. LaRocca told Newsmax Health that at least seven major new treatments are under review, some of which could get the green light from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as early as this year. “Some build on and improve current therapies, others go beyond,” he said.

Read more: Ann Romney’s MS: Breakthrough Treatments That Could Help Her
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