hicMS or Multiple Sclerosis affects an estimated 2,500,000 people in the world. Numbers indicate that the proportion of women with MS or Multiple Sclerosis, is higher than men. It appears that between two and three women have MS for every man. Although most people have heard the term MS, you would be surprised how many people still ask: What is MS?
Unless you have a friend, or family member, who has MS, there is no real reason to meditate on the subject. It acknowledged as a nasty disease. However, few people understand how complex and debilitating it can be to have.
Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which your immune system attacks and damages nerve tissue in your central nervous system (brain and spinal cord). It is a neurological disease that is treated by a Neurologist.
When operating efficiently, the body fights off germs and what it perceives as other foreign materials. Without this mechanism, a person would become sick. In a body with autoimmune disease, the nervous system becomes confused into mistaking portions of the person’s own body as foreign matter, which causes it to attack the body.
MS OR MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS AND HOW DOES IT DAMAGES MYELIN?
As a result, the immune system begins attacking and damaging healthy tissues within the body. MS attacks the central nervous system. Specifically, it attacks myelin, which is a fatty insulation material that covers the nerve fibers.
When this occurs, axons, which are the components of the nerve cells, lose their ability to function efficiently. The axons are what conduct impulses to other cells. Myelin is to nerves what insulation is to electrical wires.
Because the myelin is damaged, messages going to the brain are stopped, or slowed. Since the signals cannot travel as effectively along the nerves, the entire central nervous system becomes compromised.
THE NERVOUS SYSTEM: THE COMMUNICATION AND CONTROL CENTER OF THE BODY
The nervous system is the control and communication network of the body. The brain is the control branch of the nervous system and sends signals via the nerves. These are the primary communications lines to the rest of the body.
These signals direct conscious movement. Examples are; talking, walking, retrieving objects, and other dexterous tasks. They also include vital life functions such as breathing and pumping your heart. The nervous system also interprets other inputs from the body’s numerous data-gathering organs. These include the nose, eyes, ears, and tongue.
Nerve-endings in the skin detect sensations such as touch, heat, pain, and cold. Additionally, there are sensors within the body that detect balance, position, and so on. The nervous system carries all of this data back to the brain to process.
The nervous system contains millions of nerve cells. These are called neurons. Information travels along neurons in the form of electrical impulses and between neurons in the form of chemical signals.
MS can affect many of these functions – and each person has their very own version of the disease. No two people with MS are entirely alike in terms of symptoms.
SCAR TISSUE OR SCLEROSIS LEADS TO MOBILITY PROBLEMS
When the immune system attacks the myelin around several or many nerve cells, it leaves scar tissue. Another word for scar tissue is sclerosis, which is where the disease gets its name (multiple scars).
This scar tissue does not insulate the nerve anything like a healthy intact layer of myelin would. Therefore the damaged nerve begins to lose signals passed to it, leading to communication breakdowns.
The type, duration, and severity of the disease depends on the type of MS. It also varies from one person to another, which can make it difficult for a doctor to determine the type of MS or multiple sclerosis and predict its course. Eventually, most people with MS encounter problems with mobility, and the level of disability decided using the EDSS scale.
HOW THE NERVOUS SYSTEM DEALS WITH THESE ATTACKS
Scar damage blocks signal paths within the nervous system, stopping messages from reaching their destinations. Symptoms experienced by an individual depend on where the damage has occurred.
At the same time, the nervous system is vast and complex. Completely different areas can malfunction from one person to the next. Hence the enormous array of symptoms in people with MS. Damage to the myelin of leg muscle nerve cells could cause difficulty controlling the leg. Equally, it could result in partial or total paralysis. The severity of symptoms can be random!
Multiple sclerosis, therefore, produces widely varying signs and symptoms that depend on the extent and location of the nerve damage. This disease can create almost any neurological symptom. That said, some neurological symptoms are more common than others and are usually associated with the autonomic nervous system. The ANS controls most bodily functions, including urination, digestion, breathing, heart rate, widening of the pupils, sexual arousal and visual, motor, and sensory dysfunctions.
REMISSIONS AND ACCUMULATING DAMAGE FROM MS OR MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS
If the exacerbation causes damage to the myelin of the optic nerves ( nerves that carry signals from the eyes to the brain), that person could experience blurry or dramatically decreased vision.
Frequently an MS patient experiences remissions. These are periods of decreased or possibly total absence of symptoms that can continue for several months. Interestingly, a year or a month could pass before another exacerbation occurs. Usually, it is entirely random.
Generally, in time, the nervous system will experience another attack. After this, symptoms, reappear, or newer ones show up. The accumulating damage leaves the patient a little more disabled after each new attack.
Secondary symptoms follow. These result from the build-up of damage caused directly by the disease. Permanent damage to the nerves that control the mobility of the leg may mean complete loss of use. Consequently, the leg muscles begin to atrophy (waste away) from lack of use.
On the other hand, as we have discussed, every single person with MS is different. MS manifests in a myriad of ways, some very mild with no discernible disability and others that experience severe disabilities.
ISSUES RESULTING FROM MYELIN DETERIORATION
The subsequent results from Myelin damage, mean that an MS patient can become a victim to a host of related problems. These can include:
PROBLEMS INVOLVED WITH SENSE AND TOUCH
ISSUES WITH MUSCLE CONTROL
VISION AND HEARING PROBLEMS
BALANCE AND COORDINATION ISSUES
ELIMINATION PROBLEMS – URINATION AND BOWEL ISSUES
BRAIN ISSUES – SPEECH, COGNITIVE, AND MEMORY AMONGST OTHERS.
FATIGUE AND DEPRESSION.
KETOGENIC DIET; WHY IS A KETO DIET GOOD FOR MS
If you are looking at simple ways to eliminate and ease many of your MS symptoms, you should have a look at the ketogenic diet.