Multiple sclerosis or MS is a disease that affects the brain and spinal cord resulting in loss of muscle control, vision, balance, and sensation (such as numbness). With MS, the nerves of the brain and spinal cord are damaged by one's own immune system. Thus, the condition is called an autoimmune disease .Multiple sclerosis (MS) can be thought of as an inflammatory process involving different areas of the central nervous system (CNS) at various points in time. As the name suggests, multiple sclerosis affects many areas of the CNS.
* Multiple sclerosis is more common in individuals of northern European descent.
* Women are more than twice as likely to develop multiple sclerosis as men.
Multiple sclerosis symptoms
There are a wide range of symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS), which can vary greatly from person to person.
Your central nervous system (your brain and spinal cord) controls all your body's actions, so when MS causes damage to the nerve fibers which carry messages from your brain,
# Bladder and bowel dysfunction (e.g., urgency, incontinence, nocturia, constipation)
# Behavioral changes
# Cognitive dysfunction
# Facial numbness
# Motor abnormalities
Visual problems
In 25% of cases of MS, the first symptom is inflammation (swelling) of the optic nerve, known as optic neuritis. This usually only affects one eye, and causes pain behind your eyeball and some loss of vision.
Treatment options
The nerves of the central nervous system are sheathed in myelin, a substance that assists in nerve function. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease of the central nervous system that inflames the myelin and causes plaques or lesions to appear. The brain, spinal cord and optic nerves can be affected.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is one of those mysterious diseases in which the body attacks itself. In this case, immune cells called T cells mistakenly attack the so-called myelin sheaths that protect the signal-carrying fibers of nerve cells, leading to paralysis. But the promising results of an experimental therapy may offer new hope to MS patients and others who suffer from autoimmune diseases.
Drug treatment
The main aims of drug therapy for MS are to shorten the duration of attacks or relapses, ease specific symptoms and slow the progression of disease by reducing the rate of the attacks.
Immunotherapy ? drugs that are taken in the form of subcutaneous (under the skin), intramuscular or intravenous injection. These medications slow the frequency and severity of attacks, which means the myelin sheaths are subjected to less damage. Immunotherapy works by modifying the activity of the immune system.
