Monday, August 11, 2008
I was browsing around Social Spark ,and I came across with one of the spark ( free opps) about "Multiple Sclerosis" . Her daughter, the author of Select Visions juts got diagnose with MS. We know for fact that MS is a chronic disease of a central nervous system. The part of the nervous system which is composed of the brain, the spinal cord and the optic nerve (although the optic nerve often isn’t mentioned in definitions). The brain receives signals from the peripheral nervous system, through nerves which pass through the spinal cord.
It is probably an autoimmune disease. Wondering what this mean?
Disease or condition in which the body’s immune system causes illness by attacking healthy cells in the body. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is believed to be an autoimmune condition in which the immune system, for unknown reasons, attacks the myelin surrounding the nerves. The symptoms of MS are caused by damage to the myelin
Chronic disease: MS is not curable. However, there are treatments that are showing great promise for slowing down the progression of the disease.
Disease of the central nervous system: The central nervous system is comprised of your brain and spinal cord.
Autoimmune disease: This means that your body’s own immune system is attacking itself- in this case, targeting cells in your brain and spinal cord.
We should know that there are 50 symstom linked with MS ,all which can vary in severity, duration and associated disability.
The most common symptoms of MS are:
Fatigue
Depression
Bladder dysfunction
Numbness and/or tingling
Sexual dysfunction
Bowel dysfunction
Pain
Dizziness and vertigo
Spasticity
Vision problems
Cognitive impairment
However, all of these symptoms are also common to many other diseases and disorders.
If you are experiencing one or more of the symptoms listed and suspect that you have MS, you should see a neurologist. You can either find a neurologist yourself, or get a referral from your primary care physician. Although this is a difficult and scary time, try not to panic and continue to take care of yourself, including getting adequate sleep and rest. While some of the MS symptoms are dramatic, MS itself is not an acute disease – there is very little that is an emergency. It is important that you see a specialist (even if it takes some time to get the appointment) and go through the tests required in a logical manner.