Multiple sclerosis and vision issues are closely associated in many patients. The majority of MS patients can attest to having experienced vision symptoms during the course of the disease. Multiple sclerosis vision symptoms are not unique symptoms that strike only a small subset of the MS-afflicted population. Furthermore, because these symptoms are typically experienced early in the development of the disease, their occurrence can play an important role in diagnosing patients. The vision problems associated with MS can also be associated with other conditions. An example is nystagmus, which is associated with albinism. These vision problems tend to be indicative of damage to parts of the nervous tissue that regulate the eyes’ function in some way or another. In some situations, the damage is congenital, while in other situations it is acquired, developing during the course of a disease like multiple sclerosis.
Multiple Sclerosis Vision Changes
Multiple sclerosis patients have to deal with all sorts of neural tissue damage wrought by multiple sclerosis, and vision problems are among the consequences of this damage. Different multiple sclerosis vision problems can arise as MS progresses, promoting demyelination and inflammation in the nervous system.
Multiple sclerosis vision complications tend to have complex-sounding names, and this can potentially be confusing for those trying to find out about them. This is because the meanings of the names are not intuitive for those who are not familiar with the Latin naming conventions in medicine. An MS eye problem like diplopia actually means “double vision.” Optic neuritis, another eye problem associated with MS, is less mysterious if one has already heard of the optic nerve. The immediate implication of this name is an eye condition involving the inflammation of the optic nerve.
The progressive damage of nervous tissue by inflammation and demyelination is the defining feature of multiple sclerosis, and vision complications such as the ones mentioned above are reflective of this particular aspect of the disease. Diplopia, optic neuritis and nystagmus, tend to result from the damage that follows the development of lesions in the nervous tissue by virtue of demyelination and inflammation. Diplopia involves damage to the brainstem, the part of the brain from which cranial nerves grow. Optic neuritis involves damage to the optic nerve, as has already been indicated above. Nystagmus results from damage to different parts of the nervous system, including the cerebellum, the medial longitudinal fasciculus, and the vestibular pathways.
It is a challenge living with multiple sclerosis, and vision complications such as these only make patients’ lives more difficult. A condition like nystagmus, which involves the involuntary movement of patients’ eyes, is immediately apparent to any observers. Such observers may choose to stigmatize the patients. The vision problems described above limit patients’ abilities: they interfere with normal vision. At their worst, they disable the patients. To help patients deal with them better, it is important to compile information and resources that can help them to cope with multiple sclerosis and vision complications.
