Multiple Sclerosis Education

This hub is designed for and dedicated to multiple sclerosis education:

Multiple sclerosis is commonly referred to as its abbreviation of MS. The scientific/medical terminology for MS is disseminated sclerosis of encephalomyelitis disseminata. This disease attacks the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord. These sheaths become damaged and leads to demyelination and scarring which causes the wide variety of symptoms and signs. The onset is usually in young adults and it is more common in females. The disease appears in between 2 and 150 per 100,00 individuals. Jean-Martin Charcot first described MS in 1868.

Multiple sclerosis affects the cells of the nerves throughout the brain and spinal cord and it obstructs the communication channels between them. The disease disrupts the electrical signals, which are known as action potentials as they travel down the fibers or axons which are insulated with myelin. The disease is an autoimmune disease because the body attacks its own immune system by damaging or destroying the myelin. Once the myelin is damaged or destroyed, the axons cannot effectively conduct the nerve signals throughout the body. Multiple sclerosis refers to the scars in the white matter of the brain and spinal cord as it is mainly composed of myelin. The scars are scleroses which are better known in the medical and scientific communities as plaques or lesions. There is a lot known about the workings of MS and the process in which it happens but the true cause of MS is virtually unknown. There are theories that involve and include genetics or infections as well as environmental factors.

Many symptoms, primarily neurological can present with the disease and those symptoms typically turn into physical and cognitive disabilities. MS often takes several forms and often, new symptoms occur in discrete, relapsing attacks or they accumulate over time in progressive forms. And although symptoms may disappear between attacks, the neurological problems are often permanent.

There is currently no known cure for Multiple Sclerosis. The treatments today are simply attempts at returning function after attacks or prevent attacks, or attempts to possibly prevent disability. The medication often has adverse effects on the body and is at times, poorly tolerated. There is often pursuit to find and use alternative treatment. There is not set prognosis of multiple sclerosis patients and it is often difficult to predict the exact or even partial outcome for MS patients. The plus side, if you can say that it is a plus, is the life expectancy of MS patients is almost always the same as that of the unaffected individuals.

Multiple sclerosis has struck my family as my mother-in-law was diagnosed almost 4 years ago. The disease has not really affected her too much though she now walks with a cane and sometimes loses complete control of either her left arm/hand or left leg/foot. It’s weird how it affects her and very saddening and disheartening when it does affect her. She was on one type of medication that really affected her liver and the doctors took her off of that medication. She is now on some other type of medication (interferon) that she has tolerated fairly well. If she had no medical insurance, it would be impossible for the family to afford it as it is over a thousand dollars for a month’s supply of the medication.

I strongly support and donate to the National MS Society because I believe that it is a disease that can be defeated. I have a theory that if we could create some kind of synthetic lipoprotein that the body will accept, then we could possibly rebuild the myelin that is destroyed by the disease. If you have any theories or your family has been affected by Multiple Sclerosis, please comment.

William Cobb
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"What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?"

National Multiple Sclerosis Society
Multiple Sclerosis on Wikipedia
Multiple Sclerosis.com
Various other sites via Google