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Multiple sclerosis is a chronic disease of the central nervous system. It is classified as a demyelinating disease, i.e. those in which there is a slow destruction of nerve cells in our brain. The disease has a chronic course.
The disease process
The patient does not feel the same way all the time. Typically, the disease causes various types of exacerbations, which are usually followed by good improvement. These periods of well-being and malaise occur one after the other, depending on each other. Each subsequent “attack” of the disease, unfortunately, affects the condition of the nervous system and the general health of the patient more and more.
Who can get sick?
It is interesting that the incidence of the disease varies from country to country, i.e. depends on geographical location. In one place, it can be up to two cases per hundred thousand, and in another place up to one hundred and fifty cases of the disease per hundred thousand people.
- Most often, the first symptoms appear between the age of 20 and 40
- Women are more often affected than men
More about the mechanism of the disease…
The myelin sheaths that protect the nerve cells – their axons – are damaged, which makes it possible to transmit information efficiently. In the event of damage to the sheaths, the neurons to which they belonged can no longer communicate with others – the transmission of further information along the neural pathways is stopped.
How is MS formed?
This is not yet entirely clear and transparent to scientists. The disease is still being studied, but many scientists see its autoimmune basis. Some of them indicate that it may be caused by some metabolic processes, and perhaps even by viruses, e.g. in case of infection with the Epstein-Barr virus. Some scientific sources say that constant vitamin D deficiency can also lead to the development of the disease.
Due to the fact that the disease is poorly understood there, there is still no causal treatment. Only the symptoms are treated, the patient’s functioning is improved and the further development of the disease is prevented. Medicine, however, does not know how to cure a sick person in a “comprehensive” way
Symptoms
- First of all, these are various types of disorders in the field of balance, vision, movement, and feeling
- There are also sharp pains that can affect many parts of the human body
- The symptoms also include typical psychiatric symptoms, e.g. mood disorders (depression, neurosis) or cognitive disorders (problems with further normal functioning)