Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating disease where the myelin sheaths, the coverings for the nerves around the central nervous system, become infected. In this video, learn more about MS, its effects on people, and how it may be treated.
JUSTIN C.K. DAVIS, M.D.: Hi. My name is Dr. Justin Davis, and today I will be briefly describing multiple sclerosis. Multiple sclerosis is also referred to as MS, which simply stands for multiple sclerosis. Multiple sclerosis is a serious and debilitating disease that affects perhaps 300,000 people in the United States and more than a million people worldwide. This is a disease where the myelin sheaths, which are the coverings around the nerves of the central nervous system, become affected. Now what happens exactly with this? Well first of all, a myelin sheath, you can think of this like any kind of wire: You have the inside of the wire which is the metal part, this would be the nerve, and you have the outside of the wire, the insulation that surrounds it, that would be the plastic insulation, and that is like a myelin sheath. That is what is affected with multiple sclerosis. Now this always happens in the central nervous system and that means in your brain or your spinal cord. So as you can imagine, it can be quite serious. When your myelin sheaths become inflamed or broken down, eventually this can also affect the nerves, and that is what causes most of the symptoms associated with multiple sclerosis. Now we do not know exactly what causes multiple sclerosis. Probably, the best guess right now is that it is an autoimmune disease that means when your own cells attack your own body. Naturally, this should not normally happen but sometimes it does and causes different kinds of diseases. There are also different theories out there what may cause multiple sclerosis but in the end, nobody knows for sure. Usually multiple sclerosis is diagnosed when someone begins having symptoms that may be associated with multiple sclerosis and it can often be confirmed with a special kind of x-ray test called an MRI. This is actually when we use magnetic waves to look inside the spinal cord and the brain. Symptoms associated with multiple sclerosis are variable depending upon where exactly in the nervous system the brain or the spinal cord is affected. Often, some of the symptoms may be sudden headaches or losses of vision, paralysis, dizziness. It is usually very variable and for some reason it seems to come and go with multiple sclerosis. It is usually not something that is constant although sometimes it can be or, as the disease gets worse, it can become much more frequent. The treatment really depends upon the severity of the disease, how
frequently it occurs, and what your symptoms are. So for people with very mild multiple sclerosis, there may be no treatment necessary at all or maybe you just treat some of the symptoms when they occur. For people when it becomes more serious, then the treatment will become aimed at preventing some of the inflammation in the myelin sheaths surrounding the nerves. There are number of different kinds of treatments, usually medicines, that are used for multiple sclerosis. There is also many alternative therapies since we do not know exactly what causes this but we suspect this is an autoimmune disease then sometimes, therapy such as acupuncture, yoga or many different kinds of what we consider alternative health forms are used to help to rebalance the body and get it into its normal state, which may then limit the autoimmune process of the body. Preventing it is difficult because we do not know exactly what causes it but in cases where people have been diagnosed and it seems to be happening more and more frequently then it is important to discuss with your doctor what medicines may be used to limit the frequency. So what should you do if you think that you may be are having symptoms that are consistent with multiple sclerosis? Remember, because multiple sclerosis affects your central nervous system, there is a number of different kinds of diseases or problems that could cause this. Some of them are not so serious like migraines, and some of them could be much more serious so it is always a good idea if you notice any of these symptoms to let a health professional know right away so that you can be properly evaluated and then treated.
