MS prevalence up?

A number of media outlets (e.g., CBS News) are reporting on a study published today that indicates MS prevalence is up 50% since 1982 to .9 cases per thousand. Are more people getting sick or are more people getting diagnosed? Don't know, but it's starting to seem like there really ought to be at least one charismatic, young A-list celebrity with MS who can do for this disease what Michael J. Fox has done for Parkinson's. Annette Funicello's too old; Squiggy's too old and kinda obscure; Teri Garr's too old and kinda flaky; Montel Williams is close, but still a bit too old (sorry guys, it's strictly business).

What we need is someone who, like Michael J. Fox, has been in the mainstream public eye so pervasively that he or she feels like somebody we all know and grew up with. What are we doing wrong?