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.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis successfully reversed in animals
Aug 11, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (60) |
17
(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 ...
Human ES cells progress slowly in myelin's direction
Apr 09, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (4) |
0
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 ...
'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 ...
Study confirms that cannabis is beneficial for multiple sclerosis
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Dec 04, 2009 |
5 / 5 (17) |
0
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 |
5 / 5 (5) |
0
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 ...
Crossing the line: how aggressive cells invade the brain (w/ Video)
Nov 05, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (5) |
0
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. ...
Virus responsible for deadly brain disease found in MS patients treated with natalizumab
Sep 09, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (2) |
0
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 ...
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 ...
Inexpensive hypertension drug could be multiple sclerosis treatment
Aug 17, 2009 |
5 / 5 (7) |
0
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 ...
New clue into how brain stem cells develop into cells which repair damaged tissue
Jul 01, 2009 |
5 / 5 (3) |
0
The joint research, funded by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the UK MS Society as well as the National Institutes of Health and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, was conducted by scientists at the University ...
Tracking down the causes of multiple sclerosis
Jun 10, 2009 |
5 / 5 (5) |
0
Over 100,000 people suffer from multiple sclerosis in Germany alone. Despite intensive research, the factors that trigger the disease and influence its progress remain unclear. Scientists from the Max Planck ...
Software allows disabled to work on computers
May 13, 2009 |
5 / 5 (3) |
0
For Christine Bakanoff-Adams and Gloria Kaswen too much of life has been about loss. Losing vision. Losing the use of their legs, then not being able to use their arms and ultimately not being able to work their hands.
Drug improves mobility for some MS patients
Medicine & Health / Medications
Feb 27, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (2) |
0
The experimental drug fampridine (4-aminopyridine) improves walking ability in some individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). That is the conclusion of a multi-center Phase 3 clinical trial, the results of which were published ...
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 ...
Stem cell transplant reverses early-stage multiple sclerosis
Jan 30, 2009 |
5 / 5 (4) |
0
Researchers from Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine appear to have reversed the neurological dysfunction of early-stage multiple sclerosis patients by transplanting their own immune stem cells into their ...
