"I came hoping I could be enlightened about new medicines that are out there," said Brown, 24, an aspiring writer who has occasional double vision, pain, fatigue and sometimes has trouble walking because of the disease.

She and others did hear about promising new drugs - not yet available to the public - that are being tested locally for the Food and Drug Administration. In preliminary tests, Antegren has reduced new brain lesions caused by the disease which can cause paralysis, blindness or extreme fatigue.

"The most that I gained is just because someone has a chronic illness, that doesn't mean they can't still have a normal life," Brown said about the Expo. "You have to schedule around things, but you can still pretty much have a normal life."

Brown was among nearly 1,000 people who attended the free convention-style event, which was open to the public - not just health-care providers.

Officials want to make it a yearly event.

MS patients learned about companies that can bring health-care services to them, agencies that can help them and things they can do to ease the disease's symptoms.

Experts discussed such problems as spasticity, fatigue and depression.

The featured speaker was Otis Williams, an author who gives motivational speeches.

To find similar events, people in the past would have had to travel to such places as Chicago or Atlanta, said MS Center Executive Director Bill Hitch.

MS affects more than 400,000 people in North America. The disease usually strikes people between the ages of 20 and 40.

Social Security Administration officials manned one booth.

"This is an ideal location for us," said Sue Denney, a Social Security public-affairs specialist, "because many of the folks here... ...need to be thinking about getting disability benefits.

"We have answered a ton of questions about a variety of issues," she said. "How do I apply? What if I get denied? When does my Medicare start?"

MS Kids Connection, a new group that plans to support families of children with the disease, was providing information about the organization. Newport resident Norma Stamper, with the Center for Independent Living Options, explained about her group, which has offices in downtown Cincinnati and Edgewood.

E-mail mrutledge@enquirer.com