Treatments canhelp controlMS
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a condition that can affect the brain and spinal cord, causing a wide range of potential symptoms, including problems with vision, arm or leg movement, sensation or balance.
It’s a lifelong condition that can sometimes cause serious disability, although it can occasionally be mild.
MS is an auto-immune condition, which means something goes wrong with the immune system and it mistakenly attacks a healthy part of the body – in this case, the brain or spinal cord of the nervous system.
What causes the immune system to act in this way is unclear, but most experts think a combination of genetic and environmental factors is involved.
It’s most commonly diagnosed in people in their 20s and 30s, although it can develop at any age, and it is about two to three times more common in women than men.
The symptoms of MS vary widely from person to person and can affect any part of the body.
The main symptoms include: fatigue; difficulty walking; vision problems, such as blurred vision; problems controlling the bladder; numbness or tingling in different parts of the body; muscle stiffness and spasms; problems with balance and co-ordination; problems with thinking, learning and planning.
Depending on the type of MS you have, your symptoms may come and go in phases or get steadily worse over time.
The early symptoms often have many other causes, so they’re not necessarily a sign of MS.
If your doctor thinks you could have MS, you’ll be referred to a neurologist, who may suggest tests such as an MRI scan to check for features of MS.
It can be a challenging condition to live with, but new treatments over the past 20 years have considerably improved the quality of life of people with the condition.
MS itself is rarely fatal, but complications may arise from severe MS, such as chest or bladder infections, or swallowing difficulties.
The average life expectancy for people with MS is around five to 10 years lower than average – a gap appears to be getting smaller.
There’s currently no cure for MS, but a number of treatments can help control the condition, and many therapies aiming to treat progressive MS are currently being researched.