Multiple sclerosis is a nerve or spinal cord disease that causes random damage to parts of the nervous system. The result is a diverse range of possible symptoms depending on which parts of the cord are damaged, and how often the inflammation reoccurs. Typical symptoms are any kind of tingling, numbness, burning sensations, "pins-and-needles" or other types of sensory changes in various parts of the body; also possible are vision changes (see a full list of symptoms).
Prognosis of multiple sclerosis is highly variable. Some people have very minor problems, whereas others can end up in a wheelchair, lose vision, or other nasty complications. It just depends which part of the spinal cord or nervous system is attacked. Some people have what is called a "single sclerosis" where there is only one incident of a sclerosis (lesion) on the spinal cord, and this may or may not progress to "multiple" sclerosis.
The cause of multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease, which means that the immune system is somehow triggered to mount an attack against its own good cells - in this case the cells that surround nerves.
See full list of 53 symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis
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Thigh tingling need not be multiple sclerosis: There is a fairly common nerve condition called meralgia paresthetica that typically results in symptoms such as thigh...read more »
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Cluster of diseases with difficult diagnosis issues: There is a well-known list of medical conditions that are all somewhat difficult to diagnose, and all can present in a variety of different severities. Diseases in...read more »
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Dementia may be a drug interaction: A common scenario in aged care is for a patient to show mental decline to dementia. Whereas this can, of course, occur due...read more »
Mild traumatic brain injury often remains undiagnosed: Although the symptoms of severe brain injury are hard to miss, it is less clear for milder injuries, or...read more »
MTBI misdiagnosed as balance problem: When a person has symptoms such as vertigo or dizziness, a diagnosis of brain injury may go overlooked. This is particularly true of mild...read more »
Brain pressure condition often misdiagnosed as dementia: A condition that results from an excessive pressure of CSF within the brain is often misdiagnosed. It may be misdiagnosed as Parkinson's disease or dementia (such as ...read more »
Post-concussive brain injury often misdiagnosed: A study found that soldiers who had suffered a concussive injury in battle often were misdiagnosed on their return. A variety of symptoms can occur...read more »
Children with migraine often misdiagnosed: A migraine often fails to be correctly diagnosed in pediatric patients. These patients are not the typical migraine sufferers, but migraines...read more »
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Trigeminal neuralgia- suicide disease: Trigeminal neuralgia is a disorder of the trigeminal nerve. The cause of the condition is unknown. The patient usually suffers from sudden onset of...read more »
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See full list of 12 treatments for Multiple Sclerosis
See full list of 21 latest treatments for Multiple Sclerosis
Medical news articles related to Multiple Sclerosis include:
Source: HealthDay News
Medical research articles related to Multiple Sclerosis include:
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The symptoms of multiple sclerosis can be as numerous as they are frustrating. Keeping them under control is a primary focus of MS treatment, and...
If you have MS, you know that you rely heavily on your doctor to keep you in good health. But treatment is your responsibility as well, and that...
Although MS has visible manifestations, many of its symptoms are not outwardly apparent. This is the "invisible" side of MS, which means that in many...
After being suspended from the market for safety reasons, natalizumab is again available for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. Safeguards are in...
Prognosis for Multiple Sclerosis: Variable. Ranging from mild to very serious, depending on exactly which nerves are attacked. Average survival is 35 years after diagnosis. A rare form of acute MS can be fatal quickly.
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The US based website ClinicalTrials.gov lists information on both federally and privately supported clinical trials using human volunteers.
Some of the clinical trials listed on ClinicalTrials.gov for Multiple Sclerosis include:
See full list of 188 Clinical Trials for Multiple Sclerosis
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Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a life-long chronic disease diagnosed primarily in young adults. During an MS attack, inflammation occurs in areas of the white matter of the central nervous system (nerve fibers that are the site of MS lesions) in random patches called plaques. This process is followed by destruction of myelin, which insulates nerve cell fibers in the brain and spinal cord. Myelin facilitates the smooth, high-speed transmission of electrochemical messages between the brain, the spinal cord, and the rest of the body. (Source: excerpt from NINDS Multiple Sclerosis Information Page: NINDS)
Multiple sclerosis is a disease in which the immune system targets nerve tissues of the central nervous system. Most commonly, damage to the central nervous system occurs intermittently, allowing a person to lead a fairly normal life. At the other extreme, the symptoms may become constant, resulting in a progressive disease with possible blindness, paralysis, and premature death. Some medications such as beta interferon are helpful to people with the intermittent form of multiple sclerosis. (Source: excerpt from Understanding Autoimmune Disease: NIAID)
Chronic disease characterized by presence of numerous areas of demyelination in the central nervous system with symptoms such as weakness, incoordination, paresthesis, and speech disturbances; the etiology is unknown. - (Source - Diseases Database)
A chronic progressive nervous disorder involving loss of myelin sheath around certain nerve fibers - (Source - WordNet 2.1)
Ophanet, a consortium of European partners,
currently defines a condition rare when it affects 1 person per 2,000.
They list Multiple Sclerosis as a "rare disease".
Source - Orphanet
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