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Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a disorder of the central nervous system (CNS) - the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves.
The CNS is responsible for our conscious and unconscious functioning including movement and the response to sensations such as sight, touch and hearing. It directs these functions by sending its instructions in the form of electrical impulses to the appropriate sites along nerve fibres. Nerve fibres are coated in a protective insulating covering called the myelin sheath that services a very similar function to the coating around electrical wires. Myelin is important in speeding electrical conduction along nerve fibres and in insulating nerve fibres from one another.
The term MS refers to multiple areas of scarring (sclerosis) scattered through the brain and spinal cord. The scars are the result of healing patches of inflammation. These are the basic cause of damage to nerve fibres and of the suddenly appearing symptoms that are referred to as an attack or relapse. Patches of inflammation heal spontaneously over several weeks or months when symptoms may resolve completely or residual impairment may result.
The inflammation causes damage, particularly to the insulating myelin sheath covering nerve fibres but also damages the nerve fibres (axons) themselves. In MS the typical damage is often referred to as "demyelinating". The nature of the symptoms and their severity depends partly on the site of the patch of inflammation (lesion) and partly on its nature and intensity.
The course of MS varies widely from person to person. Some people will only ever experience mild symptoms over their lifetime while others will have relapses followed by incomplete remission when disability may worsen in a stepwise fashion with each relapse experienced. A number of persons experience slowly progressive worsening of disability over many months or years. There is uncertainty how much of this progressive process is due to low-grade inflammation and how much to loss of previously damaged nerve fibres.
For more information, please try the following links:
• www.msnz.org.nz • www.msif.org • www.thisisms.com • www.msrc.co.uk • www.takingcontrolof multiplesclerosis.org