Multiple sclerosis, sometimes known as MS and disseminated sclerosis, is an ailment of the body’s central nervous system. It is a chronic disease capable of causing a variety of different symptoms, among them muscle weakness, depression, problems with vision, difficulty speaking, severe fatigue, and pain. In more extreme cases, multiple sclerosis can impair a person’s mobility or cause disability.
Multiple sclerosis is categorized as an autoimmune disease that affects the neurons (brain and spinal cord cells that transmit information to and from parts of the body). These neurons carry electrical impulses from the brain, allowing it to control the body. A substance known as the myelin sheath, which facilitates the neurons carrying the information from the brain, surrounds most of those neurons. Multiple sclerosis slowly destroys myelin and transects neuron patches throughout the brain and spinal cord, impairing the messages being sent from the brain to the body parts. The term “multiple sclerosis” is in reference to the many scars (or scleroses) that form on the myelin sheath after being cut the way that it is. Some doctors and scientists have postulated that the disease is caused by the body attacking itself, its own immune system attacking its nervous system.
Common first symptoms a person with multiple sclerosis may experience include double vision, partial or complete loss of sight, change in sensation in the face or limbs, and difficulty balancing. These symptoms often last only for a short while at first, and many people dismiss them as insignificant and do not seek medical attention until further “MS attacks.” It is not unusual for a person to be experiencing multiple symptoms at the time he or she does seek medical attention. Other symptoms of the disease include unusual and unintentional clumsiness, tremors, unusual muscle spasms, and bladder or bowel irregularities. Loss of attention and emotional instability can also occur as the disease progresses.
Diagnosis of multiple sclerosis can be difficult in the earliest stages of the disease. An exact diagnosis cannot be made until at least two separate occurrences where the myelin has been damaged have been discovered, and those occurrences must be at least thirty days apart. If a person has experienced two separate cases of MS symptoms and has consistent anomalies upon physical examination, that clinical data is enough for a diagnosis. Other methods used to diagnose multiple sclerosis include an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) of the brain and spine and testing of the cerebrospinal fluid. An MRI shows areas where the myelin has been damaged as bright lesions, and because MRI’s can reveal lesions that appeared unknowingly in the past, they can provide evidence of chronic occurrences to support an MS diagnosis. Testing the cerebrospinal fluid can make known any chronic inflammation of the central nervous system.
In the future, a possible test that may prove useful is one that measures the number of antibodies against myelin proteins in the body, though this test is not yet used as a tool for diagnosing multiple sclerosis.
It is difficult to determine how the disease will progress. Some patients experience temporary symptoms occurring for short periods of time at intervals, and for others the attacks are more constant. For some, it progresses steadily. There is no cure for multiple sclerosis, but several forms of therapy have been proven to help ease attacks. Depending on the specific course of the disease, there are FDA-approved medications that can help as well.
