It is a chronic disease that damages your nervous system. In this condition, your immune system affects the protective layer around the nerves.
Your immune system attacks the myelin[i] that protects the nerves fibers that are responsible for all the communication between body parts and the brain through the spinal cord. There is no cure found for multiple sclerosis the only thing we can do is prevention. It can cause you a wide range of other diseases because your brain is getting hurt constantly. It is a lifelong disease that sometimes can be serious about the disability of other body parts and vision problems. Sometimes the cases can be handled and there can be a possibility of treatment of the multiple sclerosis symptoms. It is mostly found in people of age 20 to 35 years. It is more commonly found in women than men.
Symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis
People who have multiple sclerosis may experience a huge variety of symptoms. Due to the nature of multiple sclerosis, symptoms may differ from one person to another. Multiple Sclerosis severity also differs from time to time. Below are some of the most common symptoms:
- Fatigue: Most of the time people with multiple sclerosis experiences fatigue. It can even make it difficult for you to do your daily tasks.
- Difficulty in walking: You may feel numbness in your legs that make it difficult for you to walk. You may lose your balance and get hit by something in your way. It weakens your muscles.
- Vision Problems: Vision problems are the very first symptoms you may experience in multiple sclerosis. This symptom may come and go or even get worse at some point. One of the most common vision problems related to multiple sclerosis is optic neuritis which causes blurry vision. You may experience diplopia that causes double vision. At some point, when multiple sclerosis gets severe you can get blind.
- Speech Problems: In multiple sclerosis, your brain functions are disturbed which is why you may experience difficulty while speaking.
There are many other symptoms you may experience like chronic pain throughout your whole body, persistent movement of one limb of your body, difficulty in swallowing and chewing your food. Sleep and anxiety issues can be experienced. You may lose control of your bladder. You may experience short-term memory loss or difficulty in thinking about something.
You may experience a sexual problem or even lose interest in it due to multiple sclerosis. Normally when a person sexually arouses the central part of the nervous system functions properly. When it is affected by multiple sclerosis then it will be very difficult for you to sexually arouse because the brain sends the signals to your sexual organs.
Multiple Sclerosis Types
There are four multiple types of multiple sclerosis that are given below:
Clinically isolated syndrome (CIS)
It is a pre multiple sclerosis condition that involves initial episodes of symptoms that only last for 15 to 20 hours. It is only a characteristic of multiple sclerosis that is why it is not enough to go for diagnosis.
Relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS)
This type clearly shows the relapses that follow the remissions. During these remissions, symptoms may be mild or even could not be detected. It is the most common form of multiple sclerosis.
Primary progressive MS (PPMS)
At this stage, your neurological condition gets worse. You may experience a short-term relief but it will only last for a short period of time. At this stage patient’s condition is often described by calling them active or not active.
Secondary progressive MS (SPMS)
It occurs when Relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis gets its progressive form. You may experience a gradual decline in your neurological conditions.
Causes of Multiple Sclerosis
There is no known cause of multiple sclerosis at this point but doctors are still figuring the main cause. Usually, it is considered an autoimmune disease. In this condition, the immune system affects its own tissues. In multiple sclerosis, the fatty substance which covers the brain nerve fibers called myelin is destroyed by the immune system. When the myelin is exposed, then the messages that it carries may slow down or be blocked which causes multiple problems in the whole body. Multiple sclerosis is not hereditarily transferred within the family but if someone in your family has it then there is a slight chance of having it.
Risk Factors of Multiple Sclerosis
There are multiple risk factors that are involved in the development of multiple sclerosis in your body. Some of them are given below:
- Multiple sclerosis is not dependent on the age factor, it can occur at any age. From the analysis of multiple cases, it is determined that it usually affects people of age between 25 to 35 years.
- Women are at higher risk of developing multiple sclerosis than men.
- If one of your family members has multiple sclerosis then there is a risk that it may develop in you.
- There is a wide variety of viruses that may be linked to the development of multiple sclerosis.
- Climate does matter for many diseases to evolve.
- Deficiency of Vitamin-D and very low exposure to sunlight can be risky for you.
- If you are suffering from any other autoimmune disease then there are high chances that you will get affected by multiple sclerosis.
- Smoking is injurious to health in many ways and developing multiple sclerosis is one of them. multiple sclerosis.
Diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis
At the moment, there is no solid test is available to diagnose multiple sclerosis. To diagnose multiple sclerosis many other symptoms are observed to rule out whether a person has it or not. Some of the diagnoses are given below:
- A blood test is taken to rule out other symptoms to determine the presence of multiple sclerosis.
- MRI Scan is very effective to diagnose multiple sclerosis because it can reveal the current condition of the spinal cord.
- A spinal tap test is taken in which a fluid called cerebrospinal[ii] is taken out from your spinal canal.
