Multiple sclerosis
hideMultiple sclerosis (abbreviated MS, also known as disseminated sclerosis or encephalomyelitis disseminata) is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune response attacks a person's central nervous system (brain and spinal cord), leading to demyelination. Disease onset usually occurs in young adults, and it is more common in females. It has a prevalence that ranges between 2 and 150 per 100,000. MS was first described in 1868 by Jean-Martin Charcot.
MS affects the ability of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord to communicate with each other. Nerve cells communicate by sending electrical signals called action potentials down long fibers called axons, which are wrapped in an insulating substance called myelin. In MS, the body's own immune system attacks and damages the myelin. When myelin is lost, the axons can no longer effectively conduct signals. The name multiple sclerosis refers to scars (scleroses—better known as plaques or lesions) in the white matter of the brain and spinal cord, which is mainly composed of myelin. Although much is known about the mechanisms involved in the disease process, the cause remains unknown. Theories include genetics or infections. Different environmental risk factors have also been found.
Almost any neurological symptom can appear with the disease, and often progresses to physical and cognitive disability and neuropsychiatric disorder. MS takes several forms, with new symptoms occurring either in discrete attacks (relapsing forms) or slowly accumulating over time (progressive forms). Between attacks, symptoms may go away completely, but permanent neurological problems often occur, especially as the disease advances.
There is no known cure for MS. Treatments attempt to return function after an attack, prevent new attacks, and prevent disability. MS medications can have adverse effects or be poorly tolerated, and many patients pursue alternative treatments, despite the lack of supporting scientific study. The prognosis is difficult to predict; it depends on the subtype of the disease, the individual patient's disease characteristics, the initial symptoms and the degree of disability the person experiences as time advances. Life expectancy of patients is nearly the same as that of the unaffected population.
For more information about Multiple sclerosis, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
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News tagged with multiple sclerosis
Study confirms that cannabis is beneficial for multiple sclerosis
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Dec 04, 2009 |
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Cannabis can reduce spasticity in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. A systematic review, published in the open access journal BMC Neurology, found that five out six randomized controlled trials reported a reduction in spa ...
Glial cells can cross from the central to the peripheral nervous system (w/ Video)
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Dec 01, 2009 |
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Glial cells, which help neurons communicate with each other, can leave the central nervous system and cross into the peripheral nervous system to compensate for missing cells, according to new research in the Dec. 2 issue ...
Multiple sclerosis successfully reversed in animals
Aug 11, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (60) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A new experimental treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) completely reverses the devastating autoimmune disorder in mice, and might work exactly the same way in humans, say researchers at ...
Study describes new tool in the fight against autoimmune diseases, blood cancers
Nov 30, 2009 |
4 / 5 (2) |
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A study led by a Scripps Research Institute scientist describes a new, highly pragmatic approach to the identification of molecules that prevent a specific type of immune cells from attacking their host. The findings add ...
High unexpressed anger in MS patients linked to nervous system damage, not disease severity
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Nov 24, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
People with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) feel more than twice as much withheld anger as the general population and this could have an adverse effect on their relationships and health, according to a study published in the December ...
Factors from common human bacteria may trigger multiple sclerosis
Nov 24, 2009 |
3.7 / 5 (3) |
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Current research suggests that a common oral bacterium may exacerbate autoimmune disease. The related report by Nichols et al, "Unique Lipids from a Common Human Bacterium Represent a New Class of TLR2 Ligands Capable of ...
Crossing the line: how aggressive cells invade the brain (w/ Video)
Nov 05, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (5) |
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In diseases such as multiple sclerosis, cells of the immune system infiltrate the brain tissue, where they cause immense damage. For many years, it was an enigma as to how these cells can escape from the bloodstream. ...
'Buckyballs' to treat multiple sclerosis
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Mar 19, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
1
If you're of a certain age, you'll remember Buckminster Fuller's distinctive "geodesic domes" - soccer-ball-shaped structures that the late futurist envisioned as ideal human domiciles. Tel Aviv University ...
Human ES cells progress slowly in myelin's direction
Apr 09, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (4) |
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Scientists from the University of Wisconsin, USA, report in the journal Development the successful generation from human embryonic stem cells of a type of cell that can make myelin, a finding that opens up new possibilities for bo ...
MS is more aggressive in children but slower to cause disability than in adults
Nov 16, 2009 |
1 / 5 (1) |
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Magnetic resonance images (MRI) of patients diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in childhood show that pediatric onset multiple sclerosis is more aggressive, and causes more brain lesions, than MS diagnosed in adulthood, researchers ...
Important development in the treatment of multiple sclerosis reported
Aug 24, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
1
A major step forward, with important implications for understanding how to reduce the severity of multiple sclerosis, has been made by scientists at the University of Bristol. The results are published online ...
Virus responsible for deadly brain disease found in MS patients treated with natalizumab
Sep 09, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (2) |
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The virus responsible for PML (progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy), a rare brain disease that typically affects AIDS patients and other individuals with compromised immune systems, has been found to be reactivated ...
Inexpensive hypertension drug could be multiple sclerosis treatment
Aug 17, 2009 |
5 / 5 (7) |
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Turning serendipity into science, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have found a link, in mice and in human brain tissue, between high blood pressure and multiple sclerosis. Their findings suggest ...
Teenage obesity linked to increased risk of MS
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Nov 09, 2009 |
not rated yet |
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Teenage women who are obese may be more than twice as likely to develop multiple sclerosis (MS) as adults compared to female teens who are not obese, according to a study published in the November 10, 2009, print issue of ...
Cannabis compound can help cells
Feb 19, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (8) |
6
(PhysOrg.com) -- Cannabis has been used recreationally and for medicinal purposes for centuries, yet its 60 plus active components are only partly understood. Now scientists have discovered how a compound ...
