Living With Multiple Sclerosis

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Living With Multiple Sclerosis

By:	September 26, 2002

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an unpredictable, chronic disease of the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord) in which inflammation and breakdown in the protective insulation (myelin sheath) surrounding the nerve fibers of the central nervous system occurs.

MS symptoms are highly individual and vary in both severity and duration. MS can cause blurred vision, loss of balance, poor coordination, slurred speech, tremors, numbness, extreme fatigue, and even paralysis and blindness. These problems might be permanent, or they might occur sporadically.
Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, but the unpredictable physical and emotional effects can last the rest of their lives. The progress, severity, and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research treatment are giving hope to people affected by the disease.
Twice as many women as men have MS. Studies indicate that genetic factors may make certain individuals more susceptible to the disease, but there is no evidence that MS is directly inherited. It occurs more commonly among Caucasians, especially those of northern European ancestry, but people of African, Asian, and Hispanic backgrounds are not immune.
There are approximately one third of a million Americans with MS, and every week about 200 people are diagnosed with the disease-more than one person every hour.
Theresa Layne of Gruetli-Laager was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in January 2001. Her symptoms could be traced as far back as seven years before.
Her initial symptoms occurred soon after having a flu shot. She went to her family physician complaining of numbness and burning, and cold patches up and down her legs. The family physician passed it off as a strange reaction to her flu shot. The next year, again following a flu vaccine, Ms. Layne began having numbness in her arms. The physicians had a MRI done of her neck which was negative, and again it was passed off as a reaction to the shot.
Soon afterwards, while working in the Emergency Room at Vanderbilt, Ms. Layne began having memory loss and confusion. She though that maybe the symptoms were from the depression following the death of her father or because she was burned out from working in a trauma center. At this time, she decided to leave Vanderbilt and go to work at St. Thomas hospital. She worked there for three years. Most of her time was spent working in the nursery, until it closed. Theresa then moved to the operating room and had been there for nine months before having to leave work due to illness.
Theresa had gotten to the point where she was forgetting how to use the operating machines in the O.R., even if she had used them that same day. Her fine motor skills had gotten to the point where she could no longer open some of the sterile packs. One of Theresa's friends had memorized her locker combination for the days when she couldn't remember it herself.
Her loss of work has caused her to lose her home, new truck and her Harley Davidson.
She has moved closer to her family for emotional and physical support. Over the last year she has had to resort to using a wheelchair, a four-legged cane and a special walker just to get around.
Symptoms of MS are unpredictable and vary greatly from person to person and from time to time in the same person. For instance, one person may experience abnormal fatigue, while another person may have severe vision problems. While one person with MS may have loss of balance and muscle coordination-making walking and everyday tasks difficult to perform-another person with MS may have slurred speech, tremors, stiffness, and bladder and bowel problems. Even severe symptoms may disappear completely and the person will regain lost functions. In the worst cases, people have partial or complete paralysis on a permanent basis.
In MS, symptoms result when inflammation and breakdown occur in myelin, the protective insulation surrounding the nerve fibers of the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord). Myelin is destroyed and replaced by scars of hardened "sclerotic" patches of tissue. Such lesions are called "plaques," and appear in "multiple" places within the central nervous system. This can be compared to a loss of insulating material around an electrical wire, which interferes with the transmission of signals. Some nerve fibers are actually severed in association with the loss of myelin.
MS is not a fatal disease. The projected life span for most people with MS is 93% of the non-MS population. People who have MS can be expected to have a normal or near-normal life expectancy.
The majority of people with MS do not become severely disabled. Two-thirds of people who have MS remain able to walk, though many will need an aid, such as a cane or crutches, and some will use a scooter or wheelchair to help fight fatigue.
Genetic factors may make certain individuals more susceptible to the disease.
There is not yet a cure for MS, however, advances in treating and understanding MS are achieved daily and progress in research to find a cure is very encouraging. In addition, many therapeutic and technological advances are helping people manage symptoms and lead more productive lives. There are now several FDA-approved medications known to modify or slow down the underlying course of MS.
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society recommends that you begin treatment with one of three drugs: Avonex, Betaseron, or Copaxone, as soon as you are diagnosed with a relapsing form, the most common kind of MS. (Note, the FDA recently approved interferon beta 1a-Rebif-for relapsing forms of MS.) These drugs help to lessen the frequency and severity of MS attacks, reduce the accumulation of lesions in the brain, and slow progression of disability. In addition, Novantrone has been approved by the FDA for the treatment of worsening (secondary-progressive) MS. Novantrone is the first therapy approved in the U.S. for secondary-progressive MS. The lifetime dose is limited due to cardiac toxicity.
There also are many therapies available to treat symptoms such as spasticity, pain, bladder problems, fatigue, and weakness. People should consult with a knowledgeable physician to develop the most comprehensive approach to managing their MS.
In early MS, elusive symptoms that come and go might indicate any number of possible disorders. Some people have symptoms very difficult for physicians to interpret, and these people must "wait and see." While no single laboratory test is yet available to prove or rule out MS, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a great help in reaching a definitive diagnosis.

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