MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS

HELLO my  intellectual readers hope all are doing great.Thank you for giving your precious time.The month of March is  known as Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month so Today I am here with this  topic Multiple Sclerosis.

It was first recognised by French neurologist Jean Martin Charcot  in 1868.

MS refers to severely body impairing disease affecting the Central Nervous System. It is an autoimmune disease in which our immune system fight against our own tissue and try to kill and destroy it. Here the misrecognised antigen is our own myelin that is the sheath protecting the nerve fibre.

When myelin get destroyed by our own body system it lead to miscommunication between various body parts and brain that consequently lead to various disorders of posture and gait.

SYMPTOMS:

·       Numbness or pain in arms and legs

·       Prolonged diplopia: double vision

·       Tremors and slurred speech

·       Pain during eye movement and partial visibility loss

·       Fatigue and dizziness

·       Painful neck movement

·       Bowl and bladder function related complications

 

These symptoms further may lead to inability to stand ,speak and walk, depression, epilepsy resulting in partial to complete paralysis.

RISK FACTORS Etiology of MS is kind of unknown and unpredictable but major risk factors or who might be more prone to it:

·       Age:15-60 yrs age is more prone

    • Sex: Females have two times more probability compared to male
    • Particular Infections like that of Epstein Barr virus which cause monoucleosis.
    • Other existing disease like Diabetes Type 1, Thyroid disease etc
    • Climate :Countries of  temperate climate have reported more cases of MS
    • Race: White people especially of North European descent have recorded
large no of cases compared to other Asian and African races
    • Smoking: Non smokers compared to smokers record higher no of cases.

Treatment: There is no complete cure of MS but treatment focus on slow down progression and symptomatic relief to relieve from the symptoms. It includes:

Muscle relaxants

Plasmapharesis

Interferons

Physical therapy. Physiotherapy did wonders in reducing pain and improving Quality of life of MS patients.

DEEPTI M SATI