Treatment
Introduction to Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is one of the most common diseases of the central nervous system (CNS), affecting both young and old people. This section of MSActiveSource gives you a general overview of MS, including information on the disease and its diagnosis, treatment options and the help that healthcare professionals can provide both for people with MS and for family members. Please select a section from the index (left), or read the chapters in order by using the ‘forward' arrow, above.
A Pathway Through MS: Understanding and Treating your MS
This is a video programme that has been produced to help people with MS understand their condition and the treatments available. The programme contains several parts that can be found on some pages of this website. The part on this page provides a description of MS and how it affects the body. Professor David Bates, a neurologist who specialises in MS, then explains how the condition is diagnosed. This part of the programme also includes the stories of two people who have MS.
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Points covered in this part of the video:
- MS, or multiple sclerosis, is a disorder of the CNS (brain and spinal cord).
- In MS, the immune system attacks the CNS, causing inflammation.
- It is the inflammation that damages the nerve's myelin sheath in a process called demyelination.
- Myelin is replaced by scars of hardened 'sclerotic' tissue.
- Transmission of messages through the CNS is disrupted.
- There are several forms of MS.
- Around 80% of MS patients experience the relapsing-remitting form first.
- Those with relapsing-remitting MS or secondary progressive MS with relapses are suitable for treatment with a disease-modifying treatment.
- MRI scans play an important role in the diagnosis of MS.