Multiple Sclerosis Awareness
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Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system that disrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain and body.
The cause of MS is still unknown: scientists believe the disease is triggered by an as-yet-unidentified environmental factor to which a person whose immune system is genetically predisposed to respond.
Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with at women about three more likely than men. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted.
MS symptoms are variable and unpredictable. No two people have exactly the same symptoms, and each person’s symptoms can change or fluctuate over time. One person might experience only one or two of the possible symptoms while another person experiences many more.
Along with walking (gait) difficulties, MS symptoms can include:
Fatigue
Numbness or Tingling
Muscle Spasms
Clinical Depression
Bowel/Bladder Problems
Chronic Pain
Dizziness/Vertigo
While MS is currently not a curable disease, effective strategies can help modify or slow the disease course, treat relapses (also called attacks or exacerbations), manage symptoms, improve function and safety, and address emotional health.
Comprehensive MS care involves the expertise of many different healthcare professionals — each contributing in a unique way to the management of the disease and the symptoms it can cause. Sometimes this team offers “one-stop shopping;” more often, people are referred by their MS physician to other specialists in the community. In either case, the goal is comprehensive, coordinated care to manage the disease and promote comfort, function, independence, health and wellness.