UNDERSTANDING MS

Multiple Sclerosis (MS), chronic, unpredictable, and often progressive disease of the central nervous system that attacks and destroys tissues in the brain and spinal cord. There are several forms of MS, but all forms affect nerve function, resulting in problems ranging from mild numbness and difficulty walking to paralysis and blindness. Although MS can occur at almost any age, the disease usually strikes people who are between the ages of 20 and 40. For unknown reasons, MS is more common in Caucasians, women, and people living in temperate, rather than tropical, climates. The International Federation of Multiple Sclerosis Societies estimates that up to 2.5 million people in the world have MS, and according to statistics gathered by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, approximately 250,000 to 350,000 people in the United States have the disease.

Demyelination is the term used for a loss of myelin, a substance in the white matter that insulates nerve endings. Myelin helps the nerves receive and interpret messages from the brain at maximum speed. When nerve endings lose this substance they can not function properly, leading to patches of scarring, or ‘sclerosis’, occurring where nerve endings have lost myelin. It is these areas of scarring that give Multiple Sclerosis its name.

Demyelination is the root cause of the symptoms that people with MS experience. When it occurs the speed at which messages pass along the nerves is slower than normal. Even when the patches of scarring caused by demyelination have healed and re-myelination has occurred, the response time of the nerve endings tends to remain slower.