What's the Deal with Multiple Sclerosis?

For my first autoimmune specific disease post I wanted to talk about Multiple Sclerosis. I know several people who live with this condition, some of them my age, so it's a disease I have a little bit of familiarity with. To enhance your reading experience this post will be brought to you by some creative drawings. For those of you who read hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com, this is my tribute to blogger Allie Brosh and her cartooning skill.

Anyways, for the next few posts I will be taking all about MS: what it is, who has it, how you can help, and personal stories from those who live with it.

So, what is Multiple Sclerosis? MS is when the body attacks the the central nervous system which includes the brain, the spine and the optic nerves. Normally the immune system is triggered to attack damaged cells or foreign bodies but with any autoimmune disease the immune system attacks healthy cells. With MS the body attacks the Myelin, or fatty tissue lining, that insulates and protects nerve fibers. As a result the nerve itself is damaged.

The damaged Myelin forms a scar called a sclerosis, and thus the moniker for the disease. These scars affect the nerves ability to pass information from the brain to other parts of the body. Some of these scars are temporary, as is the corresponding symptom. But some scars are permanent and result in permanent neurological damage.

Various symptoms of MS are fatigue, numbness, coordination and balance problems, vision problems, bladder and bowl dysfunction, seizures, hearing loss, vision loss, depression and cognitive dysfunction. Over the course of the disease, some symptoms are temporary and some are longer lasting depending on the extent of damage done to the nerve.

There are 4 different kinds of MS:

1) Relapsing-Remitting MS - when someone experiences flare-ups, also known as exacerbations, of MS symptoms followed by limited periods of partial or complete recovery and no progression of worsening neurological damage over time. Basically, these people go into remission and experience no MS symptoms for periods of time, followed by a period of MS related problems. 85% of all people are diagnosed first with this kind of MS.

2) Primary-Progressive MS - when MS symptoms and worsening neurologic function slowly worsen overtime at a steady and consistent pace with no evident relapses or remissions. The rate of progression varies, but a full recovery is never made. 10% of people are diagnosed with primary progressive MS

3) Secondary-Progressive MS - when those who originally are diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS then change course to a more steady decline and worsening of MS symptoms. Today there is disease-modifying medication that can help stem the progression of MS from relapsing-remitting to secondary-progressive, though there is no guaranteed cure.

4) Progressive-Relapsing MS - when MS progresses at a steady and rapid rate with consistent and worsening neurological function. Some recovery can be expected by the disease progresses without remission. About 5% of MS patients are diagnosed with this kind of MS.

MS is a chronic condition and, despite what my cartoons might make you think, it is a very serious and ultimately fatal disease. What's worse is doctors are only beginning to understand what causes MS. No cures are currently available but treatments are improving.

So,  what DO we know about what causes MS? Who gets it? What treatments are there? And what can you do to help? Find out next time when I continue my story (and artwork) about Multiple Sclerosis.