Defeating Multiple Sclerosis: Dr. Stephen Hauser’s Journey

Dr. Hauser’s book “The Face Laughs While the Brain Cries” chronicles the research process in the struggle against Multiple Sclerosis.

Stephen L. Hauser, MD, at the University of California–San Francisco Medical Center. UCSF Medical Center/CC BY 3.0

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a horrible disease. At its worse, it sentences sufferers to years of bedridden, total paralysis before death finally comes. In the 1970s, there was no real treatment. Today, although it cannot be said that the disease can be cured, it has, like polio in the 1960s, been tamed.

“The Face Laughs While the Brain Cries: The Education of a Doctor,” by Stephen Hauser, M.D., tells the story of his 40-plus-year struggle to treat MS. It shows how Dr. Hauser pushed the boundaries of knowledge in genetics and immunology to develop effective therapies to treat the disease.