The Language of MS Symptoms

The Language of MS Symptoms

MS is an unpredictable disease that may go unrecognized in its early stages simply because so many of its symptoms are similar to those found in other neurological diseases. This is a problem that frustrates people with MS and health care professionals alike, especially since many doctors and thought leaders in MS now support treating the disease as early after a diagnosis has been confirmed as possible.

Often people experience symptoms for months or even years before what is called a "clinically definite" diagnosis of MS can be made. This means that a number of tests - which may include CSF tests (spinal taps), neurologicalexams and MRI - have been conducted and the results indicate that the symptoms are the result of MS activity.

Symptoms such as spasticity, cognitive difficulties, weakness and tremor may signal a more aggressive form of MS. That is not to say that anyone who has experienced one or more of these symptoms is headed toward a progressive stage of the disease. However, people whose conditions have reached a more progressive stage often have these symptoms in common.

Symptoms such as fatigue, bladder or bowel dysfunction are less likely to help doctors predict the course of the disease. Still, several individual symptoms can now be traced to their origins, which helps doctors not only to treat them, but to use them as indicators of the course the disease may be taking.

Treatment strategies in multiple sclerosis fall into one of two categories: cause and effect. There are a number of treatments aimed at slowing the progression of MS and interrupting its course based on some of the clues we have toward its cause and there are also looked at treatments that help reduce the frequency, duration and severity of relapses.

Sometimes, though, one of the most frustrating and exhausting things about living with multiple sclerosis is having to deal with the effects this disease has on the body: its symptoms.

Although symptom management does not change the course of the disease, it is still a very important part of a person's MS treatment plan. From a psychological standpoint, patients who feel better are likely to feel happier and do more. And when doing more means staying active, the body feels better too, with muscles staying healthier longer and the mind actively engaged.

Types of MS Symptoms

When we talk about symptom management in MS, we are actually looking at two classes of symptoms: primary and secondary.

Those symptoms which appear because of demyelination in the brain or spinal cord are called primary symptoms. Demyelination is what is believed to cause the body to have trouble sending signals to and from different parts of the body, and leads to further progression of the disease.

Primary symptoms include clumsiness; fatigue; numbness; tingling; bladder, bowel and sexual dysfunction; vision problems and weakness. If you remember that the nervous system is just that, a network of nerves that carries signals throughout the body, it makes sense that these would be primary symptoms of the disease.

A primary symptom of multiple sclerosis is vision loss. Here's why. The eye is a concentrated series of nerves that relay color, depth, distance, danger, attraction, and other signals back to the brain. Because of the tremendous number of nerves in the eye, vision loss is often one of the first symptoms seen in MS.

There are also a number of secondary symptoms. They are considered secondary because they could almost be thought of as "symptoms of the symptoms." Secondarysymptoms of multiple sclerosis may include muscle contractures (which means muscle shortening because of spasms or loss of muscular balance); muscle atrophy (which means tissue cells in the muscle die or decrease in volume); osteoporosis and skin breakdown.

Beyond the first two classes of symptoms directly linked to MS, a case can be made for a third kind - one that may be the most troublesome of all. These are the personalsymptoms that affect the number of different social, psychological, marital or work-related problems that are rooted in the emotional and physical challenges living with multiple sclerosis brings.

Never since it was first identified two centuries ago have more minds and more resources been dedicated to controlling this disease, from changing its course to changing the way it affects people's lives. The first step toward solving any problem is recognizing one exists.