MS Active Source

MS The Disease

• Introduction
• History of MS
• What is MS?
• Who gets MS?
• Symptoms of MS
• Course of the disease
• Diagnosis
• Treatment of MS

Introduction

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic debilitating disease that affects approximately 1 in 1000 people in Europe, North America and Australasia and is less prevalent elsewhere in the world (ref m1). It is usually diagnosed in individuals when they are 20–40 years of age (ref m2) when first definitive symptoms are manifest, although symptoms may already have been present for several years before a diagnosis is made.

MS is associated with a wide range of symptoms, including:

• altered sense of touch, numbness or tingling
• blurred vision
• muscle weakness
• depression
• difficulties with speech
• difficulties with balance and co-ordination
• difficulties with memory and thinking (cognitive impairment)
  
• pain

The wide range of symptoms associated with MS reflects the variable pathology of the disease.

Following the initial onset of symptoms – known as an attack or exacerbation – most patients experience a remission (i.e. symptoms disappear, possibly without medical treatment) but this is later followed by further attacks interspersed with remissions and there may be a gradual trend towards increasing disability. The time between the attacks and the rate of decline varies greatly between individuals and it is difficult to predict the course of the disease in any individual. Some patients experience a steady increase in disability without specific attacks, whereas others have spasmodic attacks from which they make a good recovery and the overall rate of increased disability is relatively slow.

MS is not a life-threatening illness, and with current treatments and measures to limit disability, most patients have a similar life expectancy to the general population. However, in time, many patients develop significant disability, although the rate at which this occurs varies greatly. Approximately a third of MS patients develop significant disability within 20–25 years of diagnosis (ref m3) while in approximately 15% of patients the disease does not progress (ref m4). However, many patients who experience a steady increase in disability without remissions require a wheelchair 6–7 years after diagnosis of MS. It should however, be borne in mind that much of the long-term data currently available on the rate of progression of MS relates to patients who have not received treatments to slow the progression of disease. With the appropriate use of Disease Modifying Therapies (DMTs), the outlook for patients diagnosed with MS has improved.

This section of the website provides an overview of the nature of MS, how it is diagnosed and treated. Further information on treatment can be found in the Treatment section, whilst Living with MS discusses how to manage your MS.

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