Multiple Sclerosis is an auto-immune disease which is chronic and often disabling. The body’s own defense system attacks the central nervous system which is made up of the spinal cord, brain, and optic nerves. This disease is unpredictable; there is no way to know what neurological damage will occur. Symptoms of MS may be as mild as tingling in peripheral limbs or severe as paralysis and blindness.
The process of MS begins when the white blood cells, part of the immune system, attack the myelin sheaths of the brain nerve fibers. The myelin sheaths are made up of fatty tissue and allow nerve impulses to be transferred throughout the brain and into the body. When the myelin sheaths are destroyed this can cause damage to the nerve itself or it can cause scarring (sclerosis) which gives this disease its name. This destruction or damage to the nerve fiber can distort or interrupt the impulses throughout the brain causing a variety of different symptoms.
There is new research and advances in medicine being done every day that gives hope to those affected by MS. People with MS learn to cope with the disease and go on to lead productive lives to the best of their ability. The best chance of fighting MS and leading a satisfying life is to couple an immune system modulator treatment with exercise.
This disease affects 1 out of every 750 people in US, and begins around the ages of 20 to 40. Two hundred people are diagnosed with MS per week. People are becoming more aware of MS and its complications, and it is our job as future health care professionals to be attentive of the signs and symptoms to help those around us.
