What Is Multiple Sclerosis?
Do you automatically think of a wheelchair when you hear multiple sclerosis
or "MS"? It's a common association. In fact, most people with this
disease are able to function well despite having a chronic--and sometimes disabling--
disease of the central nervous system. MS affects more than a quarter
of a million people in the United States. According to the National Multiple
Sclerosis Society, most people are between the ages of 20-50 when diagnosed
with MS. Like most autoimmune disorders, it affects twice as many women than
men. MS is not rare: About 200 new cases of MS are diagnosed in the US every
week. It's cause is not known.
MS is an autoimmune disease, which means the body essentially
fights against itself. When triggered by viruses or other agents, the immune
system mistakenly destroys its own healthy myelin tissue and cells rather than
the invading virus. Normally, myelin insulates nerves throughout the body, allowing
them to transmit impulses smoothly and quickly, without disruption. When myelin
is damaged in any way, plaques or scars form which block the proper conduction
of electrical impulses to and from the brain. This produces the symptoms of
MS.
The symptoms and severity of MS are unpredictable and
vary greatly, depending on the patient and the areas of the central nervous
system that are affected. The most common problems are with:
- Impaired vision, sometimes accompanied by pain with eye movement
- Lack of coordination
- Strength
- Numbness or weakness in one or more limbs
- Slurred Speech
- Difficulty swallowing
- Impaired sexuality
- Cognitive function
- repetitive pain or tingling sensations in various parts of the body
- fatigue
- dizziness
- tremor
- muscle spasms
Created: 9/18/2003 - Donnica Moore, M.D.
