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What Is MS And It's Symptoms?

Multiple Sclerosis is a chronic, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. Symptoms may be mild such as numbness in the limbs or severe paralysis or loss of vision. MS affects every person differently.

MS is slowing of the nerve impulses caused by demyelination (A loss of myelin in the white matter of the central nervous system of the brain and spinal cord). Think of myelin as insulation around a cable and what happens with people who have MS is that the "insulation" starts to deteriorate, which cases damage to the "cable". The "cable" then cannot work properly and is slow in sending and receiving messages from the brain.

Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 40 but the unpredictable physical and emotional effects can be lifelong. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are giving hope to those affected by the disease.

They have yet to determine what causes MS and there is no cure.



Symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis

  • Bladder Spasms (muscles around the bladder neck tighten and produce painful contractions)
  • Burning Sensation (entire body)
  • Clumsiness (tripping and falling)
  • Difficulty Swallowing/Choking
  • Dizziness and Vertigo
  • Electrical Shocks (throughout the body)
  • Depression
  • Gait (difficulty walking, weakness, spasticity, loss of balance & sensory deficit)
  • Headache
  • Hearing Loss
  • Itching
  • Lack of Concentration
  • Lowered Body Temperature (usually between 96.2 to 97.6 degrees)
  • Memory Loss
  • Numbness (pins and needles feeling, also)
  • Optic Neuritis (swelling or inflammation of the optic nerve, causing pain, blurriness and/or blind spot)
  • Pain
  • Seizures
  • Severe Fatigue
  • Sexual Problems
  • Sleeping Problems (insomnia)
  • Spasticity (muscle stiffness and/or spasms)
  • Speech Disorders
  • Stiffness
  • Swelling
  • Tightness in Chest
  • Tremors (full body)
  • Vision Disorders (blurred, loss of sight)


 

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