Spreading the word: What is Multiple Sclerosis?
May 28, 2012
Many MS organizations and people are doing something for World MS day on Wednesday, and the question “What are you doing?” is asked of us in order to spread the word about MS awareness.
So I’m sending out this article about “What is MS?” to all my friends/contacts via all my online platforms and asking them to forward it on to everybody they are friends with online. I think people need to know what MS is, not just be aware of it.
What is MS?
Multiple Sclerosis is an autoimmune, inflammatory disease of the central nervous system, which includes the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves. That means that potentially anything controlled by the CNS can be affected–such as motor function, sensory function, sight, or cognitive/emotional functions.
It is not fatal, contagious, or congenital. There is no cure; the cause is unknown. The onset is usually from 20-50 years of age and most victims will have some form of progressive disability over time. That means that because there is no cure, the majority of persons afflicted (2.5+ million worldwide) will become disabled during the decades of their lifetime with no way to fix the damage. Current estimates are that 20-25% will end up in a wheelchair.
From the day those of us received our diagnosis, we have no idea what course our disease will take. What will be affected, in what way or how rapidly will we be affected, and how disabled will we become? Each case is different. MS is unpredictable and uncontrollable; the losses never stop, the grieving process never ends.
There are new drugs that are trying to slow the progression, and meds to help with relieving symptoms and shortening relapses. But they all have side effects. Nothing is available yet to prevent MS or restore most function lost resulting from its damaging effects; research continues to someday conquer these.
In the meantime, there are many things one can do to manage MS as effectively as possible, and find support to remain hopeful in stopping MS.
Please spread the word and pass this on. Thank you!
www.DebbieMS.com