Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) formerly known as disseminated sclerosis or encephalomyelitis disseminata), is a chronic, potentially debilitating disease that affects your brain and spinal cord (central nervous system).

An estimated 400,000 Americans have MS. It generally first occurs in people between the ages of 20 and 50. The disease is twice as common in women as in men.

The illness is probably an autoimmune disease, which means your immune system responds as if part of your body is a foreign substance.

The name multiple sclerosis refers to the scars (scleroses - better known as plaques or lesions) in the white matter. Multiple sclerosis may take several forms, with new symptoms occurring either in discrete attacks (relapsing forms) or slowly accumulating over time (progressive forms).

MS can cause a variety of symptoms, including changes in sensation (hypoesthesia), muscle weakness, abnormal muscle spasms, or difficulty in moving; difficulties with coordination and balance (ataxia); problems in speech (dysarthria) or swallowing (dysphagia), visual problems (nystagmus, optic neuritis, or diplopia), fatigue and acute or chronic pain syndromes, bladder and bowel difficulties, cognitive impairment, or emotional symptomatology (mainly depression).

MS affects the neurons in the areas of the brain and spinal cord known as the white matter. These cells carry signals in between the grey matter areas, where the processing is done, and between these and the rest of the body.

In MS, your body directs antibodies and white blood cells against proteins in the myelin sheath surrounding nerves in your brain and spinal cord. This causes inflammation and injury to the sheath and ultimately to your nerves. The result may be multiple areas of scarring (sclerosis). The damage slows or blocks muscle coordination, visual sensation and other nerve signals.

Multiple sclerosis relapses are often unpredictable and can occur without warning with no obvious inciting factors. Some attacks, however, are preceded by common triggers. In general, relapses occur more frequently during spring and summer than during autumn and winter. Infections, such as the common cold, influenza, and gastroenteritis, increase the risk for a relapse.

The disease varies in severity, ranging from a mild illness to one that results in permanent disability.

Despite the ongoing efforts of medical scientists to reveal the factors responsible for causing multiple sclerosis, the exact reasons why the disorder occurs in otherwise healthy persons remain unknown.

Although various factors are suspected to trigger the occurrence of multiple sclerosis (viral or bacterial infections) or to facilitate its progression (genetic dysfunctions and various external, environmental factors), medical scientists haven't yet reached a consensus regarding the exact causes of the disorder.

At first, multiple sclerosis causes impairments only at the level of the central nervous system. In more advanced stages of progression, multiple sclerosis can involve virtually any innervated region of the body (any part of the body that contains a network of nerves). Without proper medical treatment - which is most effective when administered in early stages of disease - multiple sclerosis can cause a variety of disabilities and sometimes even death.

Depending on its patterns of progression, as well as the intensity and frequency of its generated symptoms, multiple sclerosis can be categorized in seven different subtypes:

The first subtype of multiple sclerosis is the relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RR MS), the most common form of the autoimmune disorder. According to statistics, more than 80 percent of all multiple sclerosis cases are of the relapsing-remitting subtype. This subtype is characterized by phases of symptomatic remission, followed by phases of relapse (characterized by sudden intensification of symptoms). The duration of the phases of relapse and remission vary from a patient to another, lasting anywhere from several weeks to several years.

The second subtype of multiple sclerosis - primary-progressive multiple sclerosis (PP MS) accounts for around 20 percent of all multiple sclerosis cases. The major characteristics of this subtype are gradual progression of the disease, with very short phases of remission.

The third multiple sclerosis subtype is similar to the PP MS subtype and is called secondary-progressive multiple sclerosis (SP MS). Patients with primary-progressive multiple sclerosis have 50 percent chances to eventually develop secondary-progressive multiple sclerosis.

The fourth subtype of multiple sclerosis is called progressive-relapsing multiple sclerosis (PR MS) and is characterized by gradual progression with frequent phases of symptomatic exacerbation.

The fifth multiple sclerosis subtype alternates between the primary-progressive, secondary-progressive and progressive-relapsing forms of the disease.

The sixth multiple sclerosis subtype is benign multiple sclerosis, characterized by an initial symptomatic flare which can be followed by slow or no progression at all.

The seventh and last multiple sclerosis subtype is also very rare. It is called malignant multiple sclerosis and involves rapid progression and very intense symptoms. This subtype is in most cases deadly.

Although there is no known cure for multiple sclerosis, several therapies have proven helpful. The primary aims of therapy are returning function after an attack, preventing new attacks, and preventing disability.

Further Information Regarding Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple Sclerosis Relapses and Severe Disability
People with multiple sclerosis (MS) who have relapses within the first five years of onset appear to have more severe disability in the short term compared to people who do not have an early relapse, according to a new study published in the November 4, 2009, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Possible New Underlying Cause of Multiple Sclerosis
Neurologists at the University at Buffalo are beginning a research study that could overturn the prevailing wisdom on the cause of multiple sclerosis (MS).

Genes Identified as Potential Therapeutic Targets for Multiple Sclerosis
"It's possible that the identification of these genes may provide the first important clue as to why some patients with MS do well, while others do not," says Dr. Bieber. "The genetic data indicates that good central nervous system repair results from stimulation of one genetic pathway and inhibition of another genetic pathway..."

Brain Disease Virus Found in Natalizumab Treated MS Patients
The virus responsible for PML (progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy), a rare brain disease that typically affects AIDS patients and other individuals with compromised immune systems, has been found to be reactivated in multiple-sclerosis patients being treated with natalizumab (Tysabri).

Researchers Successfully Reverse Multiple Sclerosis
A new experimental treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) completely reverses the devastating autoimmune disorder in mice, and might work exactly the same way in humans, say researchers at the Jewish General Hospital Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research and McGill University in Montreal.

Antegren Drug for Relapsing MS
A previous six-month, placebo-controlled trial of Antegren, involving 213 people with relapsing-remitting MS or secondary-progressive MS with relapses, suggested that the drug was well tolerated, reduced the accumulation of new "enhancing" brain lesions detected by MRI, and reduced the number of relapses.

Naltrexone Treats Multiple Sclerosis - But Sufferers Can't Get it
Dr Bernard Bihari (USA), a long advocate and prescriber of Naltrexone has alleviated the symptoms and/or progression of MS sufferers by prescribing Low Doses of Naltrexone (LDN). His groundbreaking work, commenced in the mid 1980s, has resulted in a small but growing number of physicians prescribing Naltrexone to minimize both progression and symptoms of MS for their patients.

Drug Improves Mobility For Some Multiple Sclerosis Patients
The experimental drug fampridine (4-aminopyridine) improves walking ability in some individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). That is the conclusion of a multi-center Phase 3 clinical trial, the results of which were published February 26 in the journal The Lancet.