Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple Sclerosis


 Jason Garoutte November 18, 1996 English / Mr. Blunt


     Multiple sclerosis is one of the most misunderstood diseases of this

century.  Since it's discovery, there is still no known causes, no proven

treatments, and no known cure, yet it affects possibly five hundred thousand

people in the United States alone.  People need to learn more about this disease

so it can be brought to the attention of the nation.

     Multiple Sclerosis is a disease of the central nervous system.  It destroys

the fatty myelin sheath that insulates your nerve cells.  Without this

insulation, nerve communication is disrupted.  The body then makes this worse by

repairing it, and clogging the area with scar tissue.  Signals going from your

brain and brain stem, such as muscle coordination signals or visual sensation

signals, are slowed greatly, or just blocked off.  Thus, a person afflicted with

Multiple Sclerosis can suffer any number of symptoms.

     Researchers are not sure yet as to the cause of Multiple Sclerosis. There

is a kind of deadlock among scientists and doctors whether it's hereditary,

viral, or a combination of the two, with the disease being hereditary, but with

a viral trigger, or just a simple chemical imbalance in the immune system.  One

thing is certain, though.  Some sort of defect in the immune system causes white

blood cells to attack and destroy the myelin sheath.

     There are five main types of Multiple Sclerosis.  The first type is Benign

Multiple Sclerosis. It is the least severe, has little progression, and takes up

twenty percent of all cases.  The second type is Benign Relapsing-Remitting

Multiple Sclerosis.  It carries symptoms that fluctuate in severity, mild

disability, and it makes up thirty percent of the total.  The third type is

Chronic Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis.  It is characterized by disability that

increases with each attack, and it is the most common with forty percent of all

cases.  Chronic Progressive Multiple Sclerosis is the fourth type.  It has

continuous disability that worsens as time goes by, and ten percent of all cases

are this.  The last type is a very rare class called Acute Progressive Multiple

Sclerosis.  This kind can kill in weeks or months, in contrast with the usual

years or decades.

     Due to the type of disease and the areas it affects, there are a great

number of possible symptoms. These symptoms can fool the most experienced

physician into thinking that it is a psychological disease.  The most common

symptoms are bouts of overwhelming fatigue, loss of coordination, muscle

weakness, numbness, slurred speech, and visual difficulties.  These symptoms may

occur for a number of years before one is actually diagnosed, and these symptoms

will appear with little or no warning.  Attacks of these symptoms appear most

often three to four years after the first incident.

     Multiple Sclerosis is diagnosed by a number of ways.  Most of the time, the

first test done is an MRI -- Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scanner.  This test maps

out your brain and looks for 
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