Multiple Sclerosis Introduction - OmniMedicalSearch.com

Conditions & Diseases: Brain & Nervous System

Multiple Sclerosis

Introduction & Overview

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a progressive, degenerative, chronic, autoimmune disease affecting the nerve fibers in the central nervous system (i.e., brain and spinal cord).

The immune system of the human body normally fights against infections but in an autoimmune condition like multiple sclerosis, the immune system mistakes the body’s own tissue as a foreign body (such as infectious viruses or bacteria) and attacks it leading to damage of the myelin sheath surrounding the nerve fibers either partially or completely leaving scars known as lesions or plaques (1) & (2).

Damage to the myelin sheath (a fatty substance) insulating the nerve causes disruption of messages traveling along the nerve fibers by either slowing down the messages, distorting the messages, passing the messages from one nerve fiber to other or the message not passing through at all (1) & (2). Figure 1 and Figure 2 below depict passage of message along a myelinated normal nerve and demyelinated nerve respectively (2).

Figure 1
Myelin Diagram

Figure 2
Demyelination in Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple Sclerosis is a common debilitating illness in the US affecting 0.5 to 1 individual per 1000 young adults and 0.2% of the general population is susceptible to acquire MS at some point in their lifetime. About 25,000 new cases are diagnosed every year. Currently 350,000 to 500,000 people in US have been diagnosed to be suffering from MS.

Internationally, 1 per 1,000,000 people acquires MS. MS is more common in women then men. Ninety percent of MS patients are diagnosed between 16 and 60 years of age (3, 4).

Caucasians are more susceptible to acquire MS then any other race. It is essentially unknown in Eskimos and Bantus, and rare among Native Americans and Asians (3).

MS is neither contagious nor fatal and life expectancy is normal. People with MS usually die of heart disease, cancer or stroke (4).

Article by Kona Vishnu, MS
Medical Writer,
OmniMedicalSearch.com