Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (abbreviated MS , also known as disseminated sclerosis ) is a chronic , inflammatory disease that affects the central nervous system (CNS) . Although many patients lead full and rewarding lives, MS can cause impaired mobility and disability in more severe cases. The name multiple sclerosis refers to the multiple scars (or scleroses) on the myelin sheaths. Doctors and researchers think the illness is probably an autoimmune disease, which means that your immune system attacks part of your body as if it's a foreign substance. Your immune system attacks your CNS, specifically, a fatty tissue of the CNS called myelin Sometimes, in most severe cases the nerve fibers themselves will be affected, and not only the myelin.

Multiple sclerosis affects more than 1 million people around the world - including twice as many women as men. which means that your immune system attacks part of your body as if it's a foreign substance.. The result may be multiple areas of scarring (sclerosis)

Cause of Multiple Sclerosis

Some Cause of Multiple Sclerosis:

• The findings, part of an ongoing national MS study, were published in the November edition of the medical journal Lancet Neurology
• The cause, or causes, of multiple sclerosis remains a mystery. Genetic factors certainly play a role in MS.
• The cause of MS is unknown, but research has shown it is likely an autoimmune disease. It strikes most people between 15 and 40 but MS has also been diagnosed in children
• It (the cause) has to be something in the environment, but it's not something in your home, community, school or church."
• The probable cause is thought to be a combination of hereditary factors, an environmental trigger like a virus and a defect in the immune system.

Symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis

Some sign and Symptoms related to Multiple Sclerosisare as follows:

• It is not surprising, therefore, that a disease which damages white matter can produce a very wide range of symptoms
• Inflammation of the optic nerve is the most usual starting symptom
• Numbness or weakness in one or more limbs, which typically occurs on one side of the body at a time or the bottom half of the body
• Tingling or pain in numb areas of the body
• Electric-shock sensations that occur with certain head movements
• Disruptions in feeling (loss of sensation).

Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis

At least partial recovery from acute exacerbations can reasonably be expected, but further relapses may occur without warning, and there is no means of preventing progression of the disorder. Some disability is likely to result eventually, but about half of all patients are without significant disability even 10 years after onset of symptoms. In some people, MS is a mild illness, but, for others, it results in permanent disability. Treatments can modify the course of the disease and relieve symptoms.

Recovery from acute relapses may be hastened by treatment with corticosteroids, but the extent of recovery is unchanged. A high dose (eg, prednisone, 60 or 80 mg) is given daily for 1 week, after which medication is tapered over the following 2 or 3 weeks. Such a regimen is often preceded by methylprednisolone, 1 g intravenously for 3 days. Long-term treatment with steroids provides no benefit and does not prevent further relapses. Other drugs that may reduce fatigue in some, but not all, patients include amantadine (Symmetrel), pemoline (Cylert), and the still-experimental drug aminopyridine. Although improvement of optic symptoms usually occurs even without treatment, a short course of treatment with intravenous methylprednisolone (Solu-Medrol) followed by treatment with oral steroids is sometimes used.

In patients with relapsing-remitting or secondary progressive disease, treatment with -interferon or with daily subcutaneous administration of glatiramer acetate reduces the frequency of exacerbations. Several recent studies have suggested that immunosuppressive therapy with cyclophosphamide, azathioprine, methotrexate, cladribine, or mitoxantrone may help to arrest the course of secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. The evidence of benefit is incomplete, however. There is little evidence that plasmapheresis enhances any beneficial effects of immunosuppression in multiple sclerosis. Intravenous immunoglobulins may reduce the clinical attack rate in relapsing-remitting disease, but the available studies are inadequate to permit treatment recommendations. Some useful treatment methods of Multiple Sclerosis

• While most types of treatments only treat MS symptoms, others suppress the immune system, to try to avoid its attack over the CNS. :
• Mayo Clinic has extensive experience treating people with multiple sclerosis (MS), suspected MS or related disorders
• In recent years, however, there has been substantial progress in understanding the pathogenetic mechanisms of the disease and in developing techniques to monitor treatment.

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