What is MS ?
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a life-long chronic disease diagnosed
primarily in young adults. During an MS attack, inflammation occurs in areas of the white matter of the central nervous system
(nerve fibers that are the site of MS lesions) in random patches called plaques. This process is followed by destruction of
myelin, which insulates nerve cell fibers in the brain and spinal cord. Myelin facilitates the smooth, high-speed transmission
of electrochemical messages between the brain, the spinal cord, and the rest of the body. The disruption of nerve signals
within the brain and spinal cord causes a variety of symptoms that can affect vision, sensation, and body movements. These
symptoms usually come and go through a series of relapses (episodes when symptoms suddenly get worse) alternating with remissions
(periods of recovery, when symptoms improve). For many patients, a long history of MS attacks over several decades leads to
slowly progressing disability, but for others, the disability is more rapid and severe. In still another subgroup of patients
(about 10 percent), the disease is relatively benign.
Symptoms of MS may be mild or severe and of long duration
or short and appear in various combinations. The initial symptom of MS is often blurred or double vision, red-green color
distortion, or even blindness in one eye. Most MS patients experience muscle weakness in their extremities and difficulty
with coordination and balance. Most people with MS also exhibit paresthesias, transitory abnormal sensory feeling such as
numbness or "pins and needles." Some may experience pain or loss of feeling. About half of people with MS experience cognitive
impairments such as difficulties with concentration, attention, memory, and judgment. Such impairments are usually mild, rarely
disabling, and intellectual and language abilities are generally spared. Heat may cause temporary worsening of many MS symptoms.
Although the exact cause of MS has been debated for decades, scientists
now believe that MS is an autoimmune disease, in which defensive cells of the body's immune system mistakenly attack myelin
sheaths of the body's own nerves. In some cases, the trigger for an MS attack seems to be a viral infection, but at other
times, other physical or emotional stress is blamed. As a rule, the timing, duration, and damage of MS attacks is unpredictable.
Physicians use a neurological examination and take a medical history
when they suspect MS. Imaging technologies such as MRI, which provides an anatomical picture of lesions, and MRS (magnetic
resonance spectroscopy), which yields information about the biochemistry of the brain. Physicians also may study patients'
cerebrospinal fluid and an antibody called immunoglobulin G. No single test unequivocally detects MS. A number of other diseases
produce symptoms similar to those seen in MS.
Informatin compliments of: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/health_and_medical/disorders/multiple_sclerosis.htm
