Whether a person with MS becomes paralyzed may depend upon the severity of the MS and where the lesions, or damaged areas on the nerve fibers, are located.
The most common symptoms of MS include fatigue, numbness and tingling, blurred vision, double vision, weakness, poor coordination, imbalance, pain, depression and problems with memory and concentration. Less commonly MS may cause tremor, paralysis and blindness.
Most people with relapsing-remitting MS -- about 80% -- eventually get secondary progressive MS. The relapses and remissions that used to come and go change into symptoms that steadily get worse. The shift typically begins 15 to 20 years after you're first diagnosed with MS.
Most people with MS have relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS). After symptoms first appear, on average, a person may experience a relapse once a year but may get them more frequently. Between relapses, their condition typically remains stable.
About 15% of patients will never necessitate assistance with ambulation, while 5-10% will do so within 5 years, and another 10% will do so in 15 years. Average patient will take about 28 years from the point of diagnosis to necessitate assistance while walking, and will be about 60 years of age.
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.
Although MS isn't fatal, there's currently no cure — MS is a chronic condition. But many people who have MS also have to contend with other issues that can decrease their quality of life. Even though most will never become severely disabled, many experience symptoms that cause pain, discomfort, and inconvenience.
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.
Protect nerves from damage
These include clearing up debris left over from myelin attacks, making sure nerves have the energy they need, and improving transport of important molecules in the nerves. By finding treatments that prevent nerve loss, we could slow or stop the progression of MS.
Most symptoms develop abruptly, within hours or days. These attacks or relapses of MS typically reach their peak within a few days at most and then resolve slowly over the next several days or weeks so that a typical relapse will be symptomatic for about eight weeks from onset to recovery. Resolution is often complete.
Relapsing-remitting MS is marked by relapses that last at least 24 hours. During a relapse, symptoms get worse. A relapse will be followed by a remission. During a remission, symptoms partly or completely go away.
Exercise strengthens the muscles that help you walk. It also eases fatigue, boosts mood, and improves quality of life in people with MS. There's even some evidence that strength training might help slow MS damage in the brain. An exercise program for MS includes 150 minutes of "aerobics" each week.
About 5 percent of people who are confirmed to have MS do not initially have brain lesions evidenced by MRI. However, the longer a person goes without brain or spinal cord lesions on MRI, the more important it becomes to look for other possible diagnoses.
Although MS can cause some disability, most people never need to use a wheelchair on a regular basis. The treatment and care of people with MS is improving so people diagnosed with MS today can expect a better quality of life than was possible previously.
MS does affect gait, mobility, muscle strength, and flexibility, but not for everyone. Research shows that only one in three people with MS use wheelchairs two decades following diagnosis. Some use canes or other devices for walking assistance.
Some people with severe MS may lose the ability to walk independently or at all, while others may experience long periods of remission without any new symptoms. There's no cure for multiple sclerosis. However, treatments can help speed recovery from attacks, modify the course of the disease and manage symptoms.
An “average” number of lesions on the initial brain MRI is between 10 and 15. However, even a few lesions are considered significant because even this small number of spots allows us to predict a diagnosis of MS and start treatment.
The study found that people with MS lived to be 75.9 years old, on average, compared to 83.4 years old for those without. That 7.5-year difference is similar to what other researchers have found recently.
Many people with MS can drive normally, but others may need adaptive equipment. Some people with multiple sclerosis may have to stop driving altogether for safety concerns. The best way to find out if it's safe for you to drive is to get evaluated by a driving rehabilitation specialist.
We know early treatment improves long-term health and wellbeing by slowing down the build up of irreversible damage and reducing the number of relapses people experience. Starting MS treatment early is best but if you start later it can also have some benefits.
Yes. Most insurers include MS as one of the conditions their Critical Illness cover is designed to protect. The definition of exactly what is needed to make a successful claim will differ from insurer to insurer.
Observation of MS patients indicates that relapses also tend to diminish after that age, and that subsequent disease progression may not be immune-mediated, as it tends not to be associated with MRI-detectable inflammatory activity.
There's no cure for multiple sclerosis, but benign MS is the mildest form of the condition.
New lesions might occur in patients with progressive MS and adjusting therapy can be considered. Patients with untreated CIS should be scanned every 1–3 months for the initial 6 months and if stable repeating MRIs every 6–12 months is recommended, unless new clinical symptoms occur.
Relapsing-remitting MS
Relapses can last for varying periods – from a few days up to months – and then the disease may then be inactive for months or years. About 85 per cent of people with MS are initially diagnosed with RRMS.