What Is Multiple Sclerosis ?
Multiple sclerosis is a complex disease of the central nervous system. MS is unpredictable, affecting vision, hearing, memory, balance and mobility. The effects are physical, emotional, financial, and last a lifetime. However, treatment of this disease has greatly progressed. Sufferers can now enjoy a normal life expectancy and do the things that they’ve always enjoyed. In this article, we’ll talk about the symptoms of MS and how the disease can be treated.
The disease multiple sclerosis attacks myelin, which is the protective covering of the brain and spinal cord, causing inflammation and often damaging the myelin in patches. When this happens, the usual flow of nerve impulses along nerve fibers is interrupted or distorted. The result may be the reason for the wide variety of MS symptoms, depending upon what part or parts of the central nervous system are affected.
The damaged parts of myelin are often called “lesions” or “plaques.” There is evidence that permanent damage to nerve fibers may occur in association with the attack on myelin. The severity of MS, progression and specific symptoms cannot be predicted at the time of diagnosis. MS is three times more likely to occur in women than in men, and is seen most commonly in people of northern European background.
The symptoms of multiple sclerosis will vary by patient and improve during times of remission. Multiple sclerosis patients may experience vision disturbances such as double or blurred vision, extreme fatigue, loss of balance and coordination, muscle stiffness, speech problems, bladder and bowel problems, short-term memory loss, and partial or complete paralysis. Many of these symptoms can be controlled or minimized using multiple sclerosis drug therapy.
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