What is multiple sclerosis?
Multiple Sclerosis, also referred to as “MS,” is a neurological disorder affecting the nerves of the brain and spinal cord. MS is thought to be an “autoimmune” disease, which means that a person’s own immune system is attacking his or her body. This attack damages the protective covering to the nerves (myelin) and eventually the nerves (axons) as well. MS is most often diagnosed in young adults, and symptoms can range from visual changes, numbness, and vertigo, to bladder and bowel problems, weakness, and spasticity (muscle tightness), among other symptoms. Individuals may also experience emotional difficulties, such as depression, or cognitive issues, such as forgetfulness. For most people with early MS, symptoms tend to flare up (“exacerbation”) and subside (“remission”) for long periods of time.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease affecting the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves. The disease causes multiple areas of damage affecting these areas. Sclerosis is a medical term meaning hardening. Thus, the disease multiple sclerosis is named for these multiple areas of hardening or firmness scattered through the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerve. The areas of damage are called plaques or lesions. These are usually located in the white matter of the brain and spinal cord. The nervous system has gray matter and white matter. The gray matter consists of areas having mostly the cell bodies of nerve cells. White matter consists mostly of the axons or nerve cells with their covering of myelin. Axons are the long processes of nerve cells that conduct the nerve signal from one place to another. The myelin surrounds the axon and is made by another type of cell called an oligodendrocyte. The axon is like an electric wire and the myelin is like the insulation around the wire. The myelin
MS is a progressive and unpredictable disease of the central nervous system that disrupts communication between the brain and other parts of the body. The severity of the disease and its symptoms vary from person to person. MS is a chronic disease of the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves. MS is a disorder that causes the immune system to attack the bodys own tissues. These attacks may be linked to an unknown trigger, perhaps a virus. It has been hypothesized that the virus is found in temperate climates, and exposure may occur in the early teenage years. Genetics play an unclear role. Although MS is not directly inherited people are believed to inherit an increased susceptibility.
Multiple sclerosis interrupts the flow of information between the brain and the body and stops people from moving. Every hour in the United States, someone is newly diagnosed with MS, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are moving us closer to a world free of MS.
