Multiple sclerosis and MS (multiple sclerosis) remissions are something everyone’s heard of and many people have encountered either personally or by knowing someone with the problem. But how many people really understand the disease, how it works, and how to put it into remission? Not as many as should, would be the short answer.

So let’s look at how this disease works, and what happens when it goes into remission. Let’s understand how to fight this disease until it’s finally obliterated.

Multiple sclerosis is a nerve disease at its core. To understand what it does, let’s think about the nervous system in the human body. At its heart, it’s our electrical system and our computer network all in one. And one thing it shares in common with manmade wiring is that it has insulation. Instead of plastics, though, we have myelin, a sheath of fatty tissue that enshrouds the nerve …

Overcoming multiple sclerosis (MS) isn’t impossible. Despite no drug curing the disease (as is the case even when a disease is cured sometimes), there are ways to put the disease into remission, and to reduce the symptoms it produces. Surprisingly, they’re simple healthy habits for the most part.

Many people believe that overcoming multiple sclerosis (MS) isn’t something simple natural things can help with, but once you understand the disease and how it works, and then look at the techniques for suppressing it, you’ll realize it’s logical.

Multiple sclerosis is the result of nerves being unable to conduct pulses between the brain and the body due to the insulation around them (myelin) breaking down. As a result, the organs, machinery in the body, don’t get enough power and become far less responsive.

Due to this communications and power breakdown in one’s machinery, the symptoms of MS are all over the …

People looking for a way to heal multiple sclerosis (MS) most likely have found the way to heal it as much as is possible by conventional means. And they’ve ignored it thinking it nonsense. This is often the case when pursuing remedies or ways to control an illness. This is mostly due to a lack of understanding of the illness.

Multiple sclerosis is misunderstood by most people, although everyone’s heard of it and most know someone who suffers from it. Contrary to urban myths, this is not a disease brought on solely by advancing age. This disease can affect anyone no matter what.

Multiple sclerosis has symptoms all over the map. There’s a reason for this. In multiple sclerosis, there’s a tissue breakdown which results in nerves failing to send and receive signals between the brain and organs. This results in those organs not getting the power or instructions they …

MS (multiple sclerosis) experts are in high demand in modern medicine as this disease increases in frequency and proves increasingly stubborn to eliminate. Unlike many other diseases, it’s not viral but rather a breakdown of part of one’s body that could happen to anyone.

MS (multiple sclerosis) experts are battling to defeat the urban myths about MS and other diseases that are misunderstood by the general public. People tend to think that MS is just a disease that afflicts the elderly. This isn’t true.

People also have a hard time figuring out the disease’s behavior because they see the across-the-board symptoms. This, to someone unfamiliar with this particular disease, can be rather confusing.

An expert will point out that the disease itself is a breakdown of a vital nervous tissue called myelin, which reduces a nerve’s capacity to send and receive signals.

Due to this, organs and the brain don’t …

Does an MS recovery diet work? Yes, it actually does work, but to understand why means to understand the disease. The Maya and other ancient cultures pointed out on many occasions that knowing your problem or enemy is the first and greatest step to overcoming it.

Multiple sclerosis is caused by deterioration of a fatty tissue called myelin. The myelin sheath coats nerves like an insulator on wires, allowing their signals to come through strong and pure. Like with wires, if the coating is degrades, the signals are weaker and interfered with. The breakdown of myelin, called demyelination, is the crux of the MS problem.

See, when these signals are faded, weak or not there, organs, all organs on the affected lines, begin to lose power and control. This is due to the brain not being able to talk to them.

This phenomenon causes symptoms such as vertigo, pains and …

MS (multiple sclerosis) relief isn’t that difficult to come by and doesn’t require questionable and expensive drugs. Surprisingly, relief is all about healthy living and some mild dietary planning.

Unfortunately many people don’t listen to this advice, assuming it can’t be that simple. The reason for their belief of this is due to not understanding what MS is in the first place.

First of all, MS is not a disease brought on by advancing age like may think. In fact, MS can affect anyone regardless of age or race. This is the same kind of misunderstanding often associated with arthritis as well.

MS is the deterioration of myelin, the fatty tissue sheath that enshrouds our nervous systems. This is basically an insulator. When it breaks down, nerves don’t work right, causing signal loss not unlike stripped or crimped wires. As a result of this, organs are underpowered and poorly controlled.…

Are you looking for MS information? Some online forums allow people to post MS questions and answers on them. Such multiple sclerosis questions and answers constitute a useful informal source of MS information.

Informal MS resources such as the ones described above do not meet the standard for official medical information. Thus, patients should not give them the same authority that they would give a doctor whom they were consulting. However, they are still useful. This is because, on them, patients can ask questions about multiple sclerosis and learn about alternative diagnoses, potential MS complications, and treatment options that their own doctors might not have considered. They can then do further research on these subjects so that, when they next visit their doctors, they are better informed individuals with a broader sense of their options. Such patients tend to do better coping with their condition: they are often more hopeful …

Among the greatest challenges faced by MS patients is the everyday experience of living with MS. Living with multiple sclerosis entails, not just the list of routines that patients have to follow to treat their condition, but also the emotional adjustments they have to make in order to begin to cope with the condition.

Keeping it Real: Living with Multiple Sclerosis

What are the important changes that patients have to adopt in order to develop a well-adjusted attitude to living with MS? It is important to realize than an MS diagnosis is earth-shattering to the average person. An MS diagnosis declares that a long road lies ahead for the individual, and that the nature of the journey and the destination are unknown. There is nothing predictable about MS. Some patients’ conditions deteriorate rapidly, while other patients remain in relatively good shape for decades, not presenting with any …

Having access to reliable MS facts is critical to finding useful help and resources for MS patients. How can you tell when you are being given multiple sclerosis facts and when somebody is just capitalizing on your ignorance and fears to make a quick buck? Well, first of all you should look at the quality of information that is being offered by the source. Is it simply an opinion or is there evidence to support it? And what sort of evidence are you being presented with? If it is scientific evidence, and if it comes from studies that have been published in peer-review journals, then you are on the right track. Other valuable sources of information that aren’t necessarily scientific are the blog entries or discussion forum contributions of other MS patients.

Not only do MS patients and those suffering from other diseases have firsthand experience of their respective diseases, …

Because living with MS is so challenging, it should not come as a surprise that MS patients often have many MS complaints to express.

By way of clarification, MS complaints are any issues that MS patients may raise about their experience living with MS. They may be complaints about the nature of the disease: it’s confusing, unpredictable nature, and the absence of simple answers or explanations. Alternatively, they may be complaints about the available treatment options and the difficulty figuring out what will work best for one’s unique circumstances: some people respond better to particular medications than others. The medications may do a good job in resolving their symptoms and, furthermore, may help to prevent the development of new symptoms. Unfortunately, in other cases, the medications will do nothing significant for the patient. Such patients continue to suffer from the worst of their symptoms, regardless of their efforts to manage …

There are various sources of MS information. Among the obvious legitimate sources of multiple sclerosis information are medical professionals. Medical professionals, especially MS experts, are ideal sources of information about multiple sclerosis because they know much about the disease as medical scientists and also from the experience of having treated numerous MS patients. They are likely to have an understanding of the latest research and scientific knowledge on multiple sclerosis. If they are good at their jobs, they also know their patients’ medical histories well. Hence, they are aware of a variety of ways in which MS can present.

Other Sources of Information on Multiple Sclerosis

Medical professionals are not the only legitimate source of MS information. Furthermore, it is not always possible for a patient to have an MS expert walk him or her through every difficult moment of his or her condition. There are periods …

Is there such a thing as multiple sclerosis syndrome, or is it more accurate to speak of a multiple sclerosis-like syndrome? Well, the answer to this question depends upon whom you ask.

Conventional thought has it that multiple sclerosis is a disease, but there are those who think that it is more accurate to describe it as multiple sclerosis syndrome. What is the distinction between these two descriptions? A syndrome is typically described as a cluster of symptoms that often occur in association with each other. They are viewed as pointing to one disease or another, but one cannot take it for granted that they have a single cause. As for disease, it is characterized by an identifiable cluster of symptoms, changes to the affected person’s body, and a readily identifiable cause.

What is Multiple Sclerosis Syndrome?

Those who think of multiple sclerosis as a syndrome will …

While it is possible to speak of MS stages, one cannot say that the stages of multiple sclerosis are set in stone. First of all, MS presents differently in different individuals. The symptoms that one develops over the course of the disease depend on the locations of the lesions in the nervous tissue. It goes without saying that there is no standard pattern for MS lesion location. Nor do all patients develop the same number and size of MS lesions.

Thus, the very first symptoms that an MS patient exhibits could be any of a variety of symptoms. The same is true for the subsequent symptoms. It is also true that the course of the disease, that is, whether it involves relapses and remissions, or becomes progressively worse, is not the same in all patients. Furthermore, some people’s MS can progress quickly, leaving them disabled within a short period …

Though MS is more prevalent in females, MS in males is recognized as a significant health issue. In some ways, multiple sclerosis in males is not drastically different from multiple sclerosis in females: the symptoms that have come to be recognized as being indicative of MS are typically the same in males as they are in females.

MS in Males vs. MS in Females

There are some differences between the presentation of MS in males and that in females: One, which particularly stands out is the issue of gender-specific biological factors that influence the development of the disease. These gender-specific biological factors are the distinct hormonal fluctuations that are specific to each gender. Males do not menstruate, they do not have the capacity to get pregnant, nor do they hit menopause in their middle-ages. Thus, they do not have the capacity to develop female hormonal cycle-related MS exacerbations …

While the term “MS diseases” is not medically accurate, some may use it to refer to diseases similar to multiple sclerosis. This is a subject of great interest to many because it indicates that there is a range of circumstances in which misdiagnosis can occur. It can also be seen as suggesting that, while we tend to think of MS as a single disease that results from a definite pathway (which we are yet to fully understand), MS may result from a number of different of pathways. By this interpretation, MS would be better described as a syndrome than as a disease.

Diseases that Mimic Multiple Sclerosis

What are some examples of so-called MS diseases? One of these multiple sclerosis diseases is the notorious Lyme disease, a bacterial disease that can sometimes mimic MS in its presentation. If a patient is bitten by a tick …

It may come as a surprise that there is little risk associated with most cases of MS in pregnancy. Pregnancy is alright for many women with multiple sclerosis. In pregnancy, women experience all sorts of biochemical changes, many of which actually suppress the manifestation of their MS symptoms. It is safe to say that pregnancy extends a form of protection over female MS patients, shielding them from autoimmunity and facilitating the repair of their previously damaged nervous tissue. It is rather fitting that, in these cases, sustaining a new life essentially gives the women a new lease of life.

What Research Says about MS in Pregnancy

Some people are bound to be skeptical about the claim that pregnancy is not only safe, but also somewhat rejuvenates many women with multiple sclerosis. These people may be concerned about their own condition, and may worry that having MS …

Does juxtaposing pregnancy with MS make you uncomfortable? It shouldn’t. Many women experience normal pregnancy with multiple sclerosis, then go on to have normal deliveries and healthy babies. Whatever dangers MS poses to adult women, they seem to be suppressed by the experience of pregnancy. Thus, having children is often within reach for women living with multiple sclerosis.

For women thinking about combining pregnancy with MS, the knowledge that this is possible will come as a relief. They should take the time to find out more about the practicalities of combining parenthood and pregnancy with multiple sclerosis. At the end of the day, even if carrying a baby to full-term does not pose a risk to their already compromised health, being a parent is a huge responsibility. It brings with it drastic life changes. The parent becomes responsible for raising another human being to maturity, and this is a …

MS detection cannot be completed with one definitive test. Rather, it is by conducting a series of tests that medical professionals are able to accomplish multiple sclerosis detection.

Like a number of diseases, MS takes some time and effort to diagnose because there are a number of other diseases that resemble it in presentation. In order to avoid misdiagnosing multiple sclerosis or one of these diseases, it is therefore important for medical doctors to undertake diagnosis through a multistep process of elimination and confirmation. This is very important as misdiagnosis would ultimately lead to failure to treat whatever condition a patient actually had.

The Details of MS Detection

Some of the diseases that can resemble multiple sclerosis in presentation include various neurological disorders and other conditions that have a pronounced impact on nervous function. Lupus and Lyme disease are both conditions that affect the nervous system, often …

MS testing is the process by which medical doctors determine whether a patient has MS. There are numerous steps involved in testing for multiple sclerosis.

What Does Testing for Multiple Sclerosis Involve?

The steps involved in MS testing include taking the patient’s medical history. This establishes, first and foremost, whether there are or have been any symptoms worthy of concern over a significant period of time. The next step in the process of testing for multiple sclerosis involves performing a neurological examination. This is the process by which a doctor examines spinal cord and brain function by asking a series of questions, by having the patient perform certain tasks, and by physically examining the patient. If, indeed, it turns out that the patient has neurological symptoms, then this might be an indication that the patient has multiple sclerosis. It might also be an indication that the patient …

If you are looking for information about MS, conditions that mimic it might cause you some confusion. This is why it is important to develop accurate tests for multiple sclerosis: Conditions that resemble it should be able to be excluded by such tests.

More on MS, Conditions that Resemble It

What are some of the conditions that resemble MS and that, in some situations, can be confused for it? Well, one of the well-known illnesses that mimics MS is Lyme disease. Lyme disease is actually known as the Great Imitator: it can be hard to diagnose because, depending on how it presents, its symptoms could be associated with any of a number of diseases. Unfortunately, when people suffering from Lyme disease are misdiagnosed, they end up getting the wrong form of treatment or no treatment at all.

This is terrible because Lyme disease is a bacterial disease that …

Among the most important sources of information about MS are people with MS. People with multiple sclerosis have much to relate about the nature of MS and their efforts to cope with it. They can also speak of their efforts to cope with the various forms of medication administered in the treatment of the condition. Since every individual’s experience of MS is unique, it is not possible to extrapolate from what one person has endured to what another is likely to go through in the future. However, valuable lessons can still be gleaned by listening to the experiences of people with MS.

An MS patient,  a close friend or relative of an MS patient, or a medical professional can learn a lot from people with multiple sclerosis by interacting with them on a one-on-one basis and seeing the challenges they deal with daily and their triumphs over some of …

Notwithstanding the fact that medical science has been grappling with MS for over 100 years, knowledge about MS causes remains somewhat murky. The causes of multiple sclerosis are not as straightforward to identify as, say, the causes of Down’s syndrome or of Lyme disease. The former is identified in a straightforward manner- as a chromosomal condition that results from the presence of all or part of an additional copy of chromosome 21 in the cells. The latter is a bacterial infection that is typically spread by tick bites.

As for multiple sclerosis, it is not possible to point at one single factor, genetic or environmental, and to claim that that is the definitive cause of the condition in a particular individual. Rather, one can suggest that the individual is genetically predisposed towards developing MS by pointing to changes in a particular area of chromosome 6. One can then talk about …

Conventional medicine is categorical about there being no simple multiple sclerosis cures to speak of. However, it does point to the existence of promising multiple sclerosis research. The idea is that the continuation of such research on multiple sclerosis will ultimately bring long-awaited cures to sufferers of multiple sclerosis.

Multiple Sclerosis Current Research

Some of the promising lines of multiple sclerosis research are those that examine the association of multiple sclerosis with certain forms of infection. These may include various viral infections. Medical scientists have observed that multiple sclerosis patients can often be shown to have previously succumbed to certain viral infections. Even after successful treatment of these infections, the virus remains in the body, dormant for stretches of time. Then one day it is reactivated and starts to replicate. Among MS patients, it has often been shown by multiple sclerosis research that this viral replication coincides …

MS examination is the process by which people are examined to determine whether they have MS. A multiple sclerosis examination is designed to prevent patients from being misdiagnosed. However, it does not always succeed in doing so. This is because some tests are not always accurate. Additionally, some patients may be exceptional in one way or another, resulting in their atypical responses to the tests.

There’s Room for Error in the MS Examination

Like other diagnostic processes, MS examination is not 100% accurate. There is room for error in this multistep process to determine a patient’s neurological status. Because of these numerous steps, there are a larger number of opportunities for doctors to make errors. For instance, right at the beginning of the multiple sclerosis examination, when the doctor is questioning the patient about his or her medical history, if the doctor fails to ask the correct questions, …

There is a larger proportion of women with MS than there is of men with MS. Not surprisingly, some tend towards associating women with multiple sclerosis, and describing this condition as a woman’s disease. But is this accurate? Is it correct to suggest that multiple sclerosis is a women’s disease?

The answer to the above questions ultimately depends on what one means by the term “women’s disease”. If the term is used to designate diseases that solely strike women, then it certainly does not apply to multiple sclerosis. There may be more women diagnosed with MS than there are men diagnosed with it, but all the same there are males living with MS. If the term “women’s disease” is being used to refer to diseases that predominantly affect women, but also claim male victims, then multiple sclerosis fits into this mold. However, there aren’t too many contexts where “women’s …

MS analysis can refer to the process of analyzing data pertaining to a suspected MS-case, and determining the patient’s MS status. The data in question can be the patient’s medical history and the results of a series of tests to which the patient’s samples have been subjected. It can also refer to the genetic analysis of a patient’s chromosomes to determine whether the patient is genetically predisposed towards developing multiple sclerosis.

The term MS analysis is significant because it places emphasis on the the process of analysis. This implies that the doctor examining the information does not make an instantaneous determination about the patient’s condition based on minimal information. Rather, a significant amount of data is collected, reviewed and considered against a variety of possible diagnoses. Subsequently, a determination is made after the appropriate amount of consideration. The determination may be that the patient has multiple sclerosis, does not have …

For those looking to run awareness campaigns on MS, an MS symbol comes in handy. A multiple sclerosis symbol is particularly useful because it serves as a shorthand signal, letting people know, even at one glance, that an event, person or group is directing attention to the condition.

The use of symbols for diseases is a practice that has fast become popular globally. Most people readily recognize that pink ribbons are a symbol for breast cancer. The widespread use of the color pink by associations such as Komen, which specialize in breast cancer awareness, has made this association an almost automatic one in the minds of many people. This use of the color pink is possibly part of the reason for its having been reclaimed as a “cool” color that men and women alike are willing to wear. It has to be pointed out that pink ribbons and the color …

Searching for MS info is not hard. The real challenge is finding reliable sources of multiple sclerosis info. At its most basic, finding such information involves undertaking a simple internet search using a search engine. Plugging “MS” “multiple sclerosis” “MS info” or “multiple sclerosis info” into a search engine and hitting the search button will suffice.

Identifying the Best MS Info Sites

Subsequently, your best bet is to sift through the sites, identifying the ones that seem to be operated by credible organizations or individuals. The most credible sites are bound to include MS patient advocacy sites, sites that present medical and scientific perspectives and those that present patients’ personal experiences. Sites that present alternative medical approaches backed with solid evidence are just as valid. They may present ideas the likes of which you have never heard before, but as long as they are open about their …

Patients who are just coming to terms with an MS diagnosis often have no idea where to get help with MS. If they want help with multiple sclerosis treatment options and other aspects of living with MS, then there are a number of places where they can go to seek the relevant information.

Who can Patients Turn to for Help with MS?

The first stop for any MS patient has to be his or her doctor. It is, after all, the doctor who will have the patient do all the necessary tests to determine what condition he or she is suffering from. Without visiting a medical doctor, it would be difficult for a patient to determine that he or she was suffering from multiple sclerosis, and to ultimately get treatment for it. This is important to note because, at the end of the day, there are a …

One of the quickest ways to get a glimpse into what living with MS might entail is to visit an MS store. A multiple sclerosis store is, essentially, an online e-commerce site that sells products that cater to consumers living with MS. That said, an MS store does not have to be an entire website. An e-commerce site with a wide range products can have a single page dedicated to all the products that are popular among MS patients, and can simply label that page its “MS store.”

The reason why a multiple sclerosis store can give one insight into an MS patient’s life is because any consumer’s shopping basket can give a complete stranger plenty of information about that consumer. If the contents include food, they can tell the stranger what the consumer’s dietary habits are. If the consumer follows certain religious or ethical dietary restrictions, then the …

Is it possible to identify MS in babies? And what are the symptoms that are indicative of multiple sclerosis in babies? These are important questions and, fortunately, there are answers to them.

First of all, it is important to establish that multiple sclerosis is often described as an adults’ disease. The vast majority of people who develop multiple sclerosis are diagnosed with it between the ages of twenty and forty years. A small number develop multiple sclerosis when middle-aged. Another minority of MS patients are first diagnosed in their late childhood or teens. As for MS in babies, this accounts for the smallest number of multiple sclerosis diagnoses at any given time.

What Symptoms are Indicative of MS in Babies?

Not only is it rare for MS to be diagnosed in babies, but it is also a tricky disease to diagnose at this age. Many of …

MS in adults is more common than MS in other age groups. That is why much online information about managing MS is geared towards addressing multiple sclerosis in adults.

The age group in which MS is most prevalent is that of adults of reproductive age, namely those between the ages of twenty years and forty years. These MS patients are also predominantly women. Thus, much of the material on the subject of multiple sclerosis tends to focus on the concerns or needs of this demographic. This is only to be expected. After all, many of the online MS resources are the fruit of the efforts of people living with MS. These people write predominantly about their personal experiences and about any official research or information pertaining to their condition. So it goes without saying that the experiences of the typical MS patient will be emphasized in the resources.

 …

MS in teenagers is rarer than MS in adults. Patients below 18 years account for 5% of MS cases, but note that these include cases of multiple sclerosis in teenagers and in younger children. It is worthwhile asking to what degree the low prevalence of MS in children and adolescents can be explained by under-diagnosis of the condition in this age group. Because it is typical to think of MS as an adults’ disease, and because information about MS in under-eighteens has traditionally been underemphasized, it is possible that a significant number of children and teenagers with MS have been misdiagnosed.

Disseminating Information about MS in Teenagers

The best way to combat the likelihood of misdiagnosis or under-diagnosis is to spread awareness among medical professionals and members of the general public about MS in teenagers and in children. An aware medical professional is more likely than an oblivious …

Are you looking for MS information? Some online forums allow people to post MS questions and answers on them. Such multiple sclerosis questions and answers constitute a useful informal source of MS information.

Informal MS resources such as the ones described above do not meet the standard for official medical information. Thus, patients should not give them the same authority that they would give a doctor whom they were consulting. However, they are still useful. This is because, on them, patients can ask questions about multiple sclerosis and learn about alternative diagnoses, potential MS complications, and treatment options that their own doctors might not have considered. They can then do further research on these subjects so that, when they next visit their doctors, they are better informed individuals with a broader sense of their options. Such patients tend to do better coping with their condition: they are often more hopeful …

For those searching for the nutritional issues underlying MS, levels of vitamin D feature prominently on the list of factors that trigger the development of multiple sclerosis. Levels of vitamin D in the body are reflective of individuals’ dietary intake of vitamin D and of their degree of exposure to sunshine. Those who somehow fail to get sufficient levels of vitamin D in their bodies suffer ill health.

Countries that experience cold winters, for instance, nations in Europe and North America, are also home to the populations most vulnerable to MS. Levels of vitamin D in the bodies of the affected people tend to be low because, for a significant part of the year, they do not get much exposure to the sunlight. They are all bundled up in warm clothing, and often spend the days indoors, away from the cold. Additionally, they don’t get sufficient dietary vitamin D. As …

The process of determining whether a patient has MS is a detailed process, involving several steps. A multiple sclerosis checklist can be used to outline the factors which, together, constitute a positive MS diagnosis.

The steps involved in determining a positive MS diagnosis include having an experienced doctor take your medical history and examine the state of your nervous system’s function through a series of tests. This process will allow the doctor to determine whether you have a cluster of symptoms that could be associated with multiple sclerosis.

Multiple Sclerosis Symptom Checklist

There is no definitive list of multiple sclerosis symptoms that all multiple sclerosis patients have. However, there is a wide range of symptoms that multiple sclerosis patients can develop as a result of their brain lesions. One or more of these symptoms, in any possible combination, could be suggestive of multiple sclerosis. Thus, one cannot make …

In the development and exacerbation of MS, viruses have often been implicated. This multiple sclerosis-viruses association is one that has great implications for understanding the nature of multiple sclerosis.

Examining the MS-Viruses Relationship

It has been speculated that viral infections are involved in triggering multiple sclerosis in particular people, and that these viral infections are further implicated in triggering flare ups of multiple sclerosis afterwards. The studies that have focused on this subject have tended to examine the relationship between stages in infection and the state of the multiple sclerosis patient’s health. For instance, it has been shown that these patient first developed MS symptoms after having succumbed to particular forms of viral infection. It has also been shown that subsequent episodes of viral replication and activity in the body coincide with the flaring up of multiple sclerosis symptoms. Not surprisingly, the treatment of these viral infections stops …

There are various complications associated with multiple sclerosis. Side effects of medication are among these complications. They occur when MS patients develop adverse reactions to the medications they are taking to manage the symptoms of their MS and to slow the progression of the disease.

More about Medication Side Effects, Multiple Sclerosis

The pharmaceutical drugs used in the management of multiple sclerosis are powerful drugs. Not surprisingly, they have the capacity to provoke myriad side effects in MS patients. Some of these side effects are standard: they happen to some degree in all the patients who use the drugs. If they are mild in degree, then patients simply tolerate them. They know that whatever benefits they derive from using the drugs outweigh the associated negatives. If, however, the side effects are severe, then the medicine could pose more harm than good to the well being of the patient.…

Multiple sclerosis complications have a tremendous impact on patients’ lives. A lot of the time, the difficulties experienced by these patients result from MS complications; they aren’t necessarily a direct result of the nervous tissue demyelination and inflammation that characterize MS.

MS is often described as a debilitating disease, with much emphasis placed on the progression toward disability experienced by a number of patients as their MS lesions spread. Fortunately, the medication currently used in the treatment of MS helps to slow down its progression in those patients who succeed in following the prescribed courses of treatment.

The onset of MS is not always immediately apparent when it happens. It often takes a while for a patient to develop symptoms and to seek medical attention for them, and for the doctors consulted to put two and two together and finally diagnose the patient with multiple sclerosis. So it can …

MS is not traditionally thought of as an infectious disease. So it is not typical to speak of “MS infections.” However, some infections may be associated with multiple sclerosis. Infections such as the Epstein-Barr virus and the Chlamydophila pneumoniae bacteria have been shown to play a role in exacerbating MS symptoms in some patients.

The involvement of infectious pathogens in the triggering and progression of multiple sclerosis is complex. It is this complexity, among other factors, that has made multiple sclerosis a difficult condition to understand. Years of medical research have been able to establish that MS is linked to some changes in the genes; hence, some people are said to be genetically predisposed towards developing it. At the same time, however, these MS-associated genetic changes are not necessarily passed directly from parent to child.

Then there is the fact that nobody has been able to pin down …

If you are looking for accurate MS information, then knowledge of your MS resource options would sure come in handy. You may find such multiple sclerosis resource options online at the drop of a hat: by conducting a simple internet search for the terms “multiple sclerosis” and “resources.”

Such a search would reveal thousands upon thousands of possible results. It goes without saying that not all of them would be useful to you. Many of them would actually be geared towards promoting products, and so they would address the needs of a very narrow audience. Some of them would talk about broader issues that affected a wider proportion of MS patients. Hence, they would prove to be popular sites. The more popular sites would also be likely to be the ones that were considered credible. Perhaps they would be the sites that were maintained by members of the medical community …

While MS in toddlers is rare, it is important for the subject to receive focused attention from medical professionals. Attention to MS in toddlers will help the affected toddlers and their families find useful resources and get help managing the condition.

The Symptoms of MS in Toddlers

Thanks to various studies and to the collection of data surrounding MS in toddlers and people of other age groups, our knowledge on the subject has grown tremendously over the years. For instance, we now know that there are genetic factors involved in the determination of one’s vulnerability to developing MS. In addition to the genetic factors, there are environmental factors that play a part in triggering the onset and progression of multiple sclerosis. One of these is prior infection with the Epstein-Barr virus. EBV infections increase the risk of developing MS in toddlers and other children. The virus affects the …

Patients who suffer from MS and their loved ones have to learn an important skill in order to survive: coping with MS. Coping with multiple sclerosis is absolutely critical if they are to make it from day to day. You may wonder what exactly this skill entails. My response is that coping with MS means making a number of psychological, physical and other adjustments. These adjustments help MS patients and their loved ones to live as productive a life as is possible with multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis does not present the exact same way in every patient. Some patients’ symptoms are mild while other patients experience severe symptoms. Additionally, some patients respond well to MS medication while others don’t. Thus, some patients will experience debilitation as a result of MS and will be unable to complete tasks or participate in activities as they previously did. Others will only endure …

MS in infants is a rarity. We are more used to hearing about MS in adults of reproductive age. So any mention of multiple sclerosis in infants is bound to raise a lot of questions.

The average person is bound to want to know since when infants were capable of being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. He or she is also going to want to know how exactly doctors would go about diagnosing MS in infants. Many of the symptoms of MS would be difficult to identify in infants. For instance, how would one be able to tell for certain that an infant had weak leg muscles if the infant was not quite at the age where crawling was the norm? Another example has to do with incontinence. How would one be able to know that an infant had no control over its bladder if the said infant was in diapers …

On their own, the symptoms of MS are difficult to live with. However, most patients also have to contend with some multiple sclerosis complication. An MS complication can result in distress, disability, or, in the worst of cases, death.

Multiple sclerosis is very much like other medical conditions in the sense that its consequences extend to complications that are not, in and of themselves, symptoms of the disease. The actual symptoms of multiple sclerosis are typically those that result directly from the demyelination and inflammation of neural tissue. These symptoms are directly attributable to the hindering of effective signal transmission between the nervous system and the various organs of the body. Thus, a multiple sclerosis patient can have such symptoms as fatigue, dizziness and vertigo, muscle weakness, incontinence, slow speech, double vision, partial blindness, spasticity, bowel difficulties, depression, cognitive impairment, and headaches.

Examining the MS Complication in Detail

MS borderline conditions are considered by some to be variant forms of multiple sclerosis. Others consider multiple sclerosis borderline conditions to be similar but completely separate diseases from MS.

These so-called borderline conditions also go by the name “idiopathic inflammatory demyelinating diseases” or IIDDs. Those who consider them to be multiple sclerosis variants essentially believe that their distinctions come down to their severity, their chronicity, and the clinical course that each one of them tends to follow. This way of viewing the conditions is preferable to the perspective that describes them as distinct diseases for an important reason: it encourages one to think about multiple sclerosis in a bigger picture perspective.

Characterizing MS Borderline Conditions

Why is it important to think about multiple sclerosis in a bigger picture perspective? The answer to this question is basically that it is important to do so because looking at any disease …

Multiple Sclerosis research is important in order to offer hope to not only the currently diagnosed sufferers of this illness, but also to the individuals who may be diagnosed with it in the future. Without this crucial research, there would never have been the option of oral medications for MS, which was a relatively new addition. Before the discovery of fingolimod, all medications for this illness had to be administered via injection. Many people are not very comfortable with giving themselves injections, but most people are perfectly okay with taking an oral medication. Fingolimod became the very first oral drug for MS that was proven to slow the progression of this disease. This important breakthrough would not have happened without research taking place.

It was the Multiple Sclerosis research studies that were done on patients with MS that originally helped researches delve deeper into the use of MRIs.  Getting an …

There are many ways to help MS patients. Remaining healthy through special Multiple Sclerosis diets, or MS diets, is one of the best ways that certain people who are diagnosed with Multiple sclerosis can stay healthy. What is important to remember is that these types of diets are not the same as commonly used fad diets. The key factor in nutrition for MS patients is high fiber and low fat foods. These foods work with the body to keep the immune system against turning against it and increase the overall health of the person in question. It is important to work with a nutritionist in order to design the best menu for such patients.

One of the nutrition plans designed for MS patients is the Swank Diet. Dr. Swank researched this disease for 50 years and has worked with over 5,000 people to compile a set of nutrition …

The way a disease such as Multiple Sclerosis is diagnosed is by using a series of MS Tests. These Multiple Sclerosis tests are designed to rule out other ailments. The reason for this is that there is no one test that can diagnose MS in any given person. For this reason, the doctor will start by gathering information on the patient’s medical history and symptoms. It is very important for the patient to be as detailed as possible on any symptoms no matter how minor they seem. A good approach to an effective diagnosis is to keep a journal that records all the symptoms as they appear, including when they started, how long they last for and how severe those symptoms are. With this, it is good to record any particulars on what makes such symptoms better or worse.

Some of the tests that are run along with this …

Multiple Sclerosis support groups are a key factor in how a person copes with this disease. Whether they are MS support groups online or MS support groups UK, these places are great for meeting others who share the same issues and the same ailment as well as know certain things that may not be readily apparent. These places can be good for locating equipment that assists with limited mobility, and alternative activities that can help with the quality of life of the affected person, as well as simply companionship in this time of need.

These groups meet at regular schedules, and some may meet up weekly, others daily, and some may have a less regular meeting schedule. A good starting point is the doctor who is treating the patient who will know where to find these groups.

What many people may not realize that no matter how strong or independent …

Joining an MS support group can be very good. A Multiple Sclerosis support group is crucial in having the sufferer of this devastating illness not feel like they are the only person out there who has it. It has been proven that people do much better both physically and emotionally when they have someone around them to share the ups and downs of this challenging ailment to manage. These groups are great for meeting people who are role models in how to succeed and survive the symptoms of this difficult ailment.

There is no substitute for someone with MS talking with another person who really understands and can relate to exactly what he or she is going through. People without such an experience can sometimes offer little more than pity.

Another benefit to joining a support group for people with MS is that it has the ability to help with …

Taking a Multiple Sclerosis quiz enables individuals to see just how much they know about this disease. This can also be a Do I have MS Quiz for those who are wondering if they might be experiencing symptoms associated with Multiple Sclerosis. This disease is incurable and considered to be an autoimmune disease, due to the demyelination caused by the immune system. Nerve cells within the central nervous system are attacked by otherwise helpful white blood cells and the inflamed myelin sheath causes electrical signals to become less effective throughout the body. By not being able to successfully send the appropriate electrical transmissions through the brain and spinal cord, the rest of the body is affected by multiple symptoms.

Numerous quizzes on MS exist online. One example of a simple quiz is supplied Yale Medical Group with information gathered from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). This …

MS Ireland is also known as the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Ireland. This Multiple Sclerosis Ireland organization is celebrating 50 years of service to the MS community. The mission of the society is to provide the proper resources to individuals with MS so as to help them live life to the fullest. The organization also wishes to help all individuals with MS to continue to be as active as possible and remain positive during their battle with MS. Objectives of this MS group include; facilitating individuals to enable them to participate within the community as much as possible, have control over their environment and lives, offer support to caregivers and family members of MS patients, and pass along informative material about MS.

Besides the aims already mentioned, this MS organization in Ireland is an advocate of empowering professionals who seek to engage in scientific research on behalf of MS patients. …

An MS attack can be treated by medications known as glucocorticoids especially in cases of a Multiple Sclerosis attack by Relapsing MS. There are four types of medications which are commonly given to RRMS patients. These medications are: interferon beta-1a, interferon beta-1b, glatiramer acetate, and natalizumab. These drugs are supposed to prevent the progression of this disease and are usually injected; however, a medication taken orally called Fingolimod is also available.

The purpose of these medications is to help reduce the frequency of attacks and the disability level of Remitting Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis patients, however, another purpose of these medications is to lower the rate of relapses presence of lesions created on the brain and the spinal cord. Scientists are searching for ways to prevent remitting relapsing MS from becoming one of the more advanced stages of MS. They are also hoping to someday soon eliminate MS altogether.

Symptoms

It is very important to remember to follow the directions in a Multiple Sclerosis diet as carefully as possible. The reason for this is that the requirements in a Multiple Sclerosis diet book are designed to work on the nutritional values that the MS patients have in order to be as healthy as possible. It is very important to understand that the multiple sclerosis diet recipes are created in such a way to boost the immune system and to help the patient alter how they eat in order to have the most benefit from the food that they intake. This type of Multiple sclerosis diet therapy will list what foods to avoid as well the specific ingredients and portions of foods to include.

The purpose of this type of a diet and the changes to daily life of a patient is to establish a kind of a routine that works …

There are many different symptoms of a MS episode. These symptoms of a Multiple Sclerosis episode can be divided into three groups, which are primary, secondary, and tertiary. Each symptom group leads to the next. For example, a common primary symptom is loss of bladder control. This symptom can usually evolve into the secondary symptom of a urinary tract infection. In contrast, a tertiary symptom is usually psychological and can be stress and embarrassment. One of the aims of treating the primary symptoms with medication and methods is to reduce the need of treating secondary or tertiary symptoms.

There is a variety of MS symptoms that can be experienced but some of the common ones are the ones listed below: sensations such as tingling or numbness in the face or in a limb, a loss of balance, double or blurred vision, or feeling a weakness in arms, legs, hands, …

A person looking for help does not need to look any further than Multiple Sclerosis support groups available within their local community. These groups are a great way to meet others who share the same challenges, but the benefits do not end there. Joining such a group is an excellent way to find information on some special challenges and needs that will have to be met as the disease inevitably progresses. For example, such groups will offer data on certain modified activities for those with limited mobility, as well as assistive equipment.

This is especially true in larger cities as many of such groups are active within the community and will do their best to provide a positive environment for patients who are dealing with this difficult disease. There is no substitute for social contact and support through this difficult time and such groups are a venue where a person …

The MS community consists of some of the most well-informed individuals around. Multiple Sclerosis journals have pages lined with detailed statistics about the disease. Many MS journals are free to those who need to utilize the data within them, which is always appreciated. The support provided to the MS community through non-profit organizations, donations, friends, family members, fundraising events, and numerous additional activities enables people with MS to get assistance when necessary.

Journals for MS patients tend to focus more on the medical side of MS. This means the literature generally doesn’t consist of an abundance of ads for products or personal accounts written by people with MS. These publications talk about demyelination, clinical neurology, pathology, genetics, immunology, rehabilitation, and myelin repair, as well as numerous other subjects attached to MS. Obtaining material such as this can help a newly diagnosed individual understand how the body is working against itself …

People commonly ask doctors; is MS hereditary? This is a popular question coming from individuals who have had family members diagnosed with MS. In short, the answer to ‘Is Multiple Sclerosis hereditary’ is; no. Research has shown genetics to be a small factor in the causation of this autoimmune disease, but it isn’t the only factor involved. Just because a parent or sibling has MS, this doesn’t make MS hereditary and it doesn’t mean you will end up being diagnosed with the disease as well.

Even though MS isn’t considered to be a hereditary disease, a few genetic variations could be at fault for raising the chances of someone developing MS. Additional factors thought to cause MS include those created by the environment and childhood illnesses. Environmental factors such as a lack of vitamin D, severe stress, smoking, and possibly even low levels of uric acid. The …

The MS benefits of a nutritional daily menu play a key role in maintaining a healthy immune system. An individual with Multiple Sclerosis benefits from the many meal plan options, cook books, diet plans, and additional resources aimed at people with MS. Choosing a meal plan shouldn’t involve a lot of expensive ingredients or special equipment to prepare. There are plenty of healthy recipes out there for MS patients to enjoy without breaking their budget. The Swank diet is actually an excellent one people with MS have come to know and trust. Adjusting to this MS diet benefits not only their bodies, but the symptoms of MS seem to become less severe over time.

This diet reduces processed foods that contain saturated fats and red meat should not be consumed during the first year of the plan. After the first year has passed, no more than three ounces of red …

Women who are diagnosed with MS tend to be in their childbearing years. This means MS pregnancy issues can be very common. Questions about Multiple Sclerosis pregnancy and fertility can be answered by health care professionals, thanks to the many devoted years of research spent on MS. The affects of MS on the body don’t generally impair fertility and there is no evidence that suggests women with MS have difficulty carrying a child to term. In fact, most women with MS go through pregnancy the same way a woman without MS would. Even delivery of the baby is possible without any additional complications.

The age most women are diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis is anywhere between 20 and 40 years of age. Previous to 1950, women who were diagnosed with MS during these childbearing years were told by doctors that it wasn’t advisable to become pregnant. However, after 40 years of …

Diagnosing MS is usually done by trained medical personnel using many complex tests. These tests are necessary as this ailment is actually diagnosed through a process of elimination, as there is no single easy to use way to identify MS. The first step in this process is a detailed medical history compiled by the doctor which will include all the available information on any symptoms experienced thus far. It is important to remember that the more information the doctor is provided with the easier the diagnosis will go so it is very important to let the doctor know about any symptoms, as well as details when they occur, what helps and what makes it worse.

Diagnosing MS with MRI Scans

There are set criteria that are followed by medial doctors when diagnosing MS symptoms. The reason for these criteria is that in almost all cases the illness will …

There are many Multiple Sclerosis trials currently active. These MS trials are used to create new medicines that can be used to manage Multiple Sclerosis. In fact, there is a need for new and better MS drugs all the time. There are many MS drugs in the development list that have at least one up and coming medicine with a lot of potential. There is an oral drug called laquinimod which is currently being studied and showing very promising positive results.

The medications that are used to treat MS and its various stages are many in number. Some target relapses specifically while other drugs are used to change the course of the disease. A large number of these medicines are used on certain patients to help them manage the symptoms experienced daily.

Research on laquinimod has shown that it reduces the percentage rate of relapses and also reduces the amount …

Multiple sclerosis epidemiology refers to the study of this disease’s patterns. MS epidemiology takes into account the differences in demographics, geography, socioeconomic status, infectious and genetic causes. Scientists known as epidemiologists make significant contributions to the knowledge about this difficult disease as they can study relationships between these factors as well as different patterns of migration. They do this in order to understand why MS is experienced by some people and not others and why some areas have high rates while others do not.

There are certain diseases that are considered to be ‘borderline MS’ and can be the cause of some forms of MS in patients. Some of these borderline diseases are chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI), acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), and balo concentric sclerosis. Other illnesses that could possibly play a part in causing MS are chicken pox, mono, and the hepatitis vaccine.

Genetics is also considered as …

There are key MS stages which differentiate different forms of MS. These Multiple Sclerosis stages govern the cycles of remission and relapse as well how fast the disease progresses. Relapsing-remitting MS has very regular cycles of relapse and remission. The patient usually has time to recover fully during the episodes of remission as the symptoms of the disease completely disappear for the duration of the remission. This particular form of MS takes a long time to progress and can even go for 40 years before it evolves into another stage. On average, 85 percent of patients who have MS have this particular form of it.

Only 10 percent of the population diagnosed by MS has Primary-Progressive MS. Individuals with this devastating form of disease will get progressively worse as time goes on and very few and temporary improvements, if any improvements at all, will be encountered. Secondary-Progressive MS is usually …

MS prognosis is not always as bad as many patients might feel at the time of their diagnosis. It is important to compile a list of questions for the doctor in question to answer. Learning as much as possible can provide the patient with significant peace of mind. Worrying too much about the future only causes stress and can prevent the patient from making the most of their time with their family and friends. It is usually recommended to keep a piece of paper nearby in order to write down any questions as they occur.

It is important to maintain the patient’s health and a good way to ensure that is to incorporate an exercise program and alter the diet. MS is an autoimmune disease, so boosting the immune system is beneficial in both the present and in the long run.

There are significant changes to a person’s career choices …

The spasticity Multiple Sclerosis patients report to doctors ranges from mild stiffness in muscles to uncontrollable spasms. The experience of muscle spasticity MS patients endure has the ability to come and go, just as with other MS symptoms. The arm and leg muscles seem to be the most affected by this phenomenon, but occasionally facial muscles can be plagued by spasms as well. As the twitching increases, moving freely becomes more difficult. People with MS who have muscle spasms constantly know just how frustrating even the simplest task can be to perform.

Muscle spasms are the result of the scar tissue forming on nerve cells during demyelination. The myelin sheath covering nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are so riddled with lesions that the electrical impulses being sent to the muscles aren’t received in a balanced way. The imbalance created by inefficiently transmitted signals results in tense muscles …

People who are suffering from the MS condition do have some hope. Treatments for the Multiple Sclerosis condition have been developed after many different years of research. There are plenty of treatment options especially those designed to reduce the number of attacks in Relapsing Remitting MS. There are also treatments that can help manage symptoms and slow down the progression of the illness. Patients who are diagnosed with Relapsing Remitting MS can experience episodes of remissions and relapses. These remissions can last as long as decades but can also be as short as a month. Doctors do not know why some patients have longer remissions than others. Most people who have MS can fully recover from the symptoms of their disease during a remission.

The reason why a relapse occurs is that the immune system itself attacks and damages the outer covering of the nerve cells of the brain and …

MS and alcohol tend not to mix very well, due to the effects both have on the human body. The combination of Multiple Sclerosis and alcohol intake can cause symptoms to become exaggerated to the point of being dangerous. Symptoms of MS include slurred speech, a lack of coordination, poor judgment, impaired thinking, and a loss of balance. Alcohol can have the same effect on a perfectly healthy person. When these symptoms are already present in an individual with MS, exacerbating them by consuming alcohol is only part of the problem. Multiple Sclerosis and alcohol consumption can also cause trouble with a number of medications used to treat MS.

Individuals taking clonazepam, diazepam, baclofen, and certain antidepressant drugs should avoid alcohol. Excessive drinking can also lead to damaged organs, which is simply another problem MS patients can do without. For individuals with MS who like to enjoy an occasional drink, …

Incidence of Multiple sclerosis varies annually as well as from source to source. Incidence of MS is about two and a half million people worldwide. There are great variances in numbers of affected persons between countries, however, research suggests three general factors that can be responsible for these variations. Women have twice the likelihood of being diagnosed with MS as men do, except in the pediatric world. Although MS tends to be a disease of adults more than of children, pediatric MS is present. It is important to note that, the majority of children affected by MS tend to be males until puberty. After puberty, most of the people affected by MS are females.

Environmental factors, genetics, and past infections are the 3 factors most people believe responsible for MS around the world. In fact, countries that are further from the equator have a much higher rate of MS than …

The side effects of MS are difficult to handle. These side effects of Multiple Sclerosis occur because the body’s own immune system attacks the nerve cells of the brain and the spinal cord. These particular attacks cause the demyelination of nerve cells, which means that the outer covering used to conduct electrical signals is stripped off the cells. After too much of the sheath is stripped off by the white blood cells nerve damage occurs. The brain itself is safe as normally these white blood cells, known as ‘T-cells’, can’t get that far.

What happens after the cells become stripped of their covering is that they are no longer able to conduct electrical signals effectively. This lack of communication, so to speak, causes a lot of trouble within the body. The symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis vary in intensity but include the following: loss of balance, lack of coordination, numbness, tingling, …

The pathology of Multiple Sclerosis includes studying the result of scarring within the central nervous system. Recording the techniques used in the pathology of MS has lead to extensive reports from which the MS community has greatly benefitted from. Not only is this data useful to those with Multiple Sclerosis, but also to friends, family, and caregivers of people with MS.

This disease is associated with the demyelination that occurs in the brain and spinal cord. The inflammation caused by the demyelination is the reason behind the existence of more than 50 symptoms patients can experience. White blood cells create the inflamed sheath around nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, which is in turn, makes the cell lose the ability to be more efficient when transmitting electrical impulses. As the scarring on cells continues, signals become more and more faint. Eventually an individual with MS can experience a …

Multiple Sclerosis statistics show there are large variations in the number of infected people between each country. However, the study found that three general factors, which may be responsible for these changes, are to blame for this incurable disease. Women are twice as likely to be diagnosed with MS as men and even children aren’t safe from developing it. As a pediatric disease, it’s important to note that the female to male ratio is opposite than that seen in adults. In the MS population of children affected by the disease, males are diagnosed more often than females, until puberty is reached. After puberty, the majority of MS patients are female.

Multiple Sclerosis statistics worldwide changed once environmental factors, genetics and infections of the past were believed to play a larger part in the manifestation of the disease. In fact, in countries that are farther from the equator, the percentage of …

The researchers believe that multiple sclerosis is a disease caused by Multiple Sclerosis genetics and environmental factors. MS genetics research has brought about the discovery that the differences between individual genes may increase the risk of developing Multiple Sclerosis. For example, a person who has a family member with MS, the disease is more likely to be diagnosed within an immediate family member as well. It seems that the highest percentage of risk is between children, parents, and siblings. So a person who is a twin has a probability of 35 percent to be diagnosed with MS as well. But, a half-brother or sister has only a 5 percent chance of being diagnosed positive with the disease.

Studies have shown a certain group of genes may be a factor in causing MS. The genes on chromosome 6 appear to increase the likelihood that a person will develop Multiple Sclerosis. Apart …

The society for MS Scotland runs has a wonderful website with tons of MS facts, resources, and useful info for MS patients and caregivers. This resource for Multiple Sclerosis Scotland residents can access has links to other areas of interest for people interested in finding out more about MS, and not solely for MS patients. Due to the fact that Scotland has the highest number of incidences of MS per 100,000 people, it’s beneficial for the country to have a site such as this. Researchers believe the high number of cases of MS is due to a series of factors, such as a vitamin D deficiency, genetics, and viruses.

One study of Scotland’s incidences of MS involved examining medical records which spanned a 12-year period. The records were checked for connections between MS and the location of the patient, whether or not the person was a smoker, and any additional …

MS scholarships are available for students who have been diagnosed with the disease or who have a parent with MS. One MS website is set up for Multiple Sclerosis scholarships for students who need the financial assistance and who meet the qualifications. The National MS Society feels a student’s dream of going to college shouldn’t be let go simply because of a disease no one has control over. The organization created the program in 2003 and has been providing funds to high school graduates who would otherwise not be able to fulfill their goal of attending college.

Scholarship funds accumulated to well over a million dollars for the 2011 school year and 639 students received money for college. The eligibility requirements are very straight forward. First of all, the student must have a high school diploma or a GED and either be diagnosed as having MS or have a parent …

MS facts are not only interesting to those with MS, but a long list of Multiple Sclerosis facts can also be useful to individuals who have no clue what this disease is like. People who have had no experience with MS might not know that it was first diagnosed in the year of 1849 or that 2.5 million people around the world are affected by MS. Additional facts listed on many MS information sheets are: the UK has 70,000 people who have been diagnosed with MS, Scotland has the highest prevalence of MS out of any other country, the survival rate for an MS patient in 1936 was only 8 percent, the cause of MS is still unknown, and a person is twice as likely to be diagnosed with MS if that individual’s father also has the disease.

Trustworthy Places to Obtain Multiple Sclerosis Facts and Figures

When …

An exciting new multiple sclerosis discovery was announced recently. This MS discovery was a new type of a drug to battle this devastating disease. Even though this particular drug has not been approved by the FDA yet, it is still hoped by many that this drug will prove instrumental in changing the way MS patients of today and of the future are treated. It is very challenging to live with MS and all people who have this disease want to return to living their life as they did before they were diagnosed with this illness.

The new drug currently being studied is Laquinimod. The main reason why this drug is revolutionary than the ones being used to treat multiple sclerosis patients today is that it is administered orally. Majority of other medications used by MS patients must be given via an injection which can be distinctly unpleasant. The only other …

When it comes to MS cooling, many patients afflicted by this illness manage their heat sensitivity by using a number of ways. It is important to consume plenty of fluids particularly cool beverages. This hydration will help the body perspire and use this system in order to remain at a comfortable temperature. It is also helpful to suck on chipped ice and suck on frozen juice in order to lower a person’s body temperature. Another good way to stay cool is to stay indoors where air conditioning can maintain a comfortable temperature.

Some other methods used by patients are taking showers with cool water, swimming and using various cooling products to lower the body’s temperature quickly. Such MS cooling products are usually vests. Some have various battery operated systems to reduce the absorption of ambient and surrounding heat, as well as pockets for ice packs. There are also hats, …

MS clinical trials aren’t conducted solely for the benefit of current patients. Multiple sclerosis trials also offer hope to people who will be diagnosed with this illness in the future. In fact, one of the recent breakthroughs would have never happened if it weren’t for these types of studies. Fingolimod, which is an oral treatment for MS, was the first of its kind. Before this, all medication had to be injected into the patient. Oral medication is a lot easier to take than injections as many people dislike having to inject themselves daily. Also, this new drug is one of the very first ones of its kind to slow the progression of MS. This, and other breakthroughs, would never have happened without research.

Another area of research helped doctors see the usefulness of MRIs when it comes to this disease. MRI scans are not only used to diagnose the disease …