MS Essay, Research Paper

What is MS?

I chose the topic of MS because three years ago my mother was diagnosed with this disease.

Not a lot of people know very much about MS. MS stands for multiple sclerosis. It is a very disabling disease that I have learned a lot about over the past few years.

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic and even sometimes disabling disease of the central nervous system. MS can suddenly ?attack? your body, and often it is misdiagnosed.

There are many symptoms to MS. A few initial ones are difficultly walking, abnormal sensations-such as numbness or what is called ?pins and needles?, and loss of vision. A few less common symptoms are incoordination, slurred speech, sudden paralysis, and a declined in your ability to think, reason and remember.

There are three catergories used to divide the symptoms. The first is the Primary symptoms, which are a result of demylelination. Demylenation is the destruction of myelin-the fatty sheath that surrounds the nerve fibers in the central nervous system. This prohibits nerve impulses to muscles and organs. The symptoms in the primary stage include weakness, numbness, and loss of vision, pain, tremor, and bladder and bowel dysfunction. These symptoms can be managed with medically based methods.

The second catergory is the secondary symptoms, which occur as a result of the primary symptoms. Most secondary symptoms are slightly worse then primary symptoms. Secondary symptoms can be treated, but are better off avoided by treating the primary symptoms.

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Tertiary symptoms are the third of the 3 catergories. These are social, vocational, and psychological complications due to primary and secondary symptoms. One common psychological problem is the onset of Depression due to MS. Professional assistance from therapists, psychologists, and social workers is used for managing tertiary symptoms. Health professionals can manage many of the symptoms caused by MS with regular care.

It is generally hard to predict the course of MS. The disorder varies greatly with each person, but with help from Doctors, and the support of your family, people can make it through life with this disease; My mom being just one example of someone who battles each day at a time.

Work cited from: http://www.nmms.org/

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