What is Multiple Sclerosis?
On the TV drama "The West Wing", President Bartlett finally revealed that he
has had multiple sclerosis for several years; a progressive and sometimes disabling
disease of the central nervous system. Should he resign because of the cover-up?
Or, because of the disease itself? The fact is, like President Bartlett or
Montel Williams, most patients with the relapsing and remitting pattern of multiple
sclerosis manage well. This was confirmed by a recent study in the New
England Journal of Medicine [11/16/00]. These researchers found that
the average time from the onset of multiple sclerosis to the occurrence of a
slight limitation in the ability to walk was less than 1 year among patients
in whom the disease was progressive from the start. But in patients who experienced
the relapsing and remitting pattern of multiple sclerosis, the onset of significantly
impaired walking took 11 years.
Unfortunately, these researchers also found that once a threshold of irreversible
disability had been reached, the progression of the disease was not effected
by relapses.
For more information, click here.
Created: 7/17/2001  - Donnica Moore, M.D.