The fifth group, 14%, had normal quality of life for 20 years and then a decline. Researchers found people who were older when diagnosed with MS and those with worse physical impairments or worse fatigue had an increased risk of being in the group with the worst physical quality of life.
Contents. You may have to adapt your daily life if you're diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), but with the right care and support many people can lead long, active and healthy lives.
Communicating with friends and family can help you relate your condition to them, but there is nothing better than connecting with other people that are living with MS. There are MS Focus support groups in many communities that offer meetings. There are also support groups online if you can't make an in-person meeting.
While many with MS will experience depression or anxiety at some point, more rarely, some people experience changes to their emotions or behaviour that don't seem to make sense, or that they aren't able to control.
FAQs about MS prognosis and life expectancy
Multiple sclerosis itself is not usually lethal, but it can increase the risk of long-term complications, such as infections or trouble swallowing, that can potentially shorten survival. On average, longevity is about five to 10 years shorter in people with MS.
Disease Course of MS Is Unpredictable
A person with benign MS will have few symptoms or loss of ability after having MS for about 15 years, while most people with MS would be expected to have some degree of disability after that amount of time, particularly if their MS went untreated.
As such, symptoms can range from blurred vision to spasms. What's more, these symptoms can come and go, or even change over time. “MS is painful, relentless and exhausting,” says Rawlings. “It can make it harder to do everyday things like walk, talk, eat and think.”
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an immune-mediated demyelinating disease of the central nervous system. Studies have shown that MS disrupts several social cognitive abilities [including empathy and theory of mind (ToM)].
Depression can occur throughout the course of MS, even in mild forms of the disease [11], and has a reported higher risk of depression in the first years after the diagnosis [12]. Disease activity, but not its duration, was associated with depression and anxiety [13].
How common are memory and thinking problems with MS? Somewhere between 4 and 7 in every 10 people with MS will experience some kind of changes in memory or thinking. Mostly, these changes are mild to moderate rather than severe. And not everyone with MS will experience cognitive difficulties.
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.
Factors that may trigger MS include: Exposure to certain viruses or bacteria: Some research suggests that being exposed to certain infections (such as Epstein-Barr virus) can trigger MS later in life. Where you live: Your environment may play a role in your risk for developing MS.
In many patients, over a span of 5 to 15 years, the attacks begin more indolently, persist more chronically and remit less completely, gradually transforming into a pattern of steady deterioration rather than episodic flares. This pattern is referred to as secondary progressive MS.
Commonly cited MS personality changes include social inappropriateness, disinhibition, apathy, emotional lability, and impulsivity.
A change in cognitive function — that is, cognitive dysfunction — is common in MS. More than half of all people with MS develop problems with cognition.
Experiencing some low-level stress isn't always bad for you, but long-term or excessive stress can affect your health. It may make your symptoms of MS, such as pain, fatigue and depression, seem worse. Learning to manage your stress is an important part of taking control of your condition.
In other words, this study suggests that people with MS have a tendency to experience anger more often than those who do not have MS.
Multiple sclerosis can take a toll on all your relationships. If your symptoms flare, you might not be able to go to family dinners or social events after work. You may feel that you've let people down. MS also can affect your self-esteem.
Most people with MS have a relapsing-remitting disease course. They experience periods of new symptoms or relapses that develop over days or weeks and usually improve partially or completely. These relapses are followed by quiet periods of disease remission that can last months or even years.
No-one one can be certain how your MS will affect you, although most people with MS don't use a wheelchair. Learning how to deal with unpredictability and being prepared to manage changes will help you take back the control you might feel MS has taken away.
As expected fatigue was a significant symptom for the people with MS in the studies included, it was commonly experienced and often affected those people severely. Daytime sleepiness was observed less often than fatigue and was usually less severe, but it had a significant impact on the people it did affect.
MS dizziness and vertigo is likely to make you feel nauseous. Many people with MS experience symptoms related to digestion, including dyspepsia, which causes an uncomfortable feeling of fullness and bloating along with pain. Digestive problems can also lead to nausea. MS bowel problems can leave you feeling queasy.