Hey! Welcome to my blog! I hope through this blog I can inform people about Multiple Sclerosis. I have been very passionate about this topic since by brother Bobby was diagnosed almost two and half years ago. My family and I really did not know much about this disease before Bobby's diagnosis, so I am hoping that this blog will provide more information for those who do not know much about MS.The Multiple Sclerosis Association of America defines Multiple Sclerosis as a chronic, an unpredictable and often disabling disease that attacks the central nervous system (CNS), which is made up of the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves. It is also considered to be an autoimmune disease. The body’s own defense system attacks myelin, the fatty substance that surrounds and protects the nerve fibers in the central nervous system. The nerve fibers can also be damaged. The damaged myelin forms scar tissue (sclerosis), which gives the disease its name. When any part of the myelin sheath or nerve fiber is damaged or destroyed, nerve impulses traveling to and from the brain and spinal cord are distorted or interrupted, producing the variety of symptoms that can occur. The damage appears in multiple places in the CNS.
According to National Multiple Sclerosis Society the most Common Symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis are fatigue, numbness in the face, body, or extremeties, walking, balance, and coordination difficulties, bladder dysfunction, bowel dysfunction, vision problems, sexual dysfunction, pain. cognitive function, depression, and spasticity. Some less common symptoms include speech disorders, swallowing problems, headache, hearing loss, seizures, tremor, respiration /breathing problems, and itching.
Every hour in the United States, someone is newly diagnosed with MS. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50. Twice as many women as men have MS. It occurs more commonly among people with northern European ancestry, but people of African, Asian, and Hispanic backgrounds are not immune. It is believed that there are currently about 250,000 to 350,000 people in the United States who have been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. This estimate suggests that approximately 200 new cases are diagnosed each week.
