In the United States today, there are approximately 400,000 people with multiple sclerosis (MS)—with 200 more people diagnosed every week. Worldwide, MS is thought to affect more than 2.5 million people. While the disease is not contagious or directly inherited, epidemiologists—the scientists who study patterns of disease—have identified factors in the distribution of MS around the world that may eventually help determine what causes the disease. These factors include gender, genetics, age, geography, and ethnic background.
Search This Blog
IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO YOU:
Whether you have or may have MS, or care about someone who does, finding the right information for you is an important step.
Learn the facts about MS: what it is, who gets it, why, what are the symptoms it can cause, how it's diagnosed, and how it is treated?
We at the Christian MS Society are dedicated to helping you stay informed.People with MS can typically experience one of four disease courses, each of which might be mild, moderate, or severe.
- Relapsing-Remitting MS
People with this type of MS experience clearly defined attacks of worsening neurologic function. These attacks—which are called relapses, flare-ups, or exacerbations —are followed by partial or complete recovery periods (remissions), during which no disease progression occurs. Approximately 85% of people are initially diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS.- Primary-Progressive MS
This disease course is characterized by slowly worsening neurologic function from the beginning—with no distinct relapses or remissions. The rate of progression may vary over time, with occasional plateaus and temporary minor improvements. Approximately 10% of people are diagnosed with primary-progressive MS.- Secondary-Progressive MS
Following an initial period of relapsing-remitting MS, many people develop a secondary-progressive disease course in which the disease worsens more steadily, with or without occasional flare-ups, minor recoveries (remissions), or plateaus. Before the disease-modifying medications became available, approximately 50% of people with relapsing-remitting MS developed this form of the disease within 10 years. Long-term data are not yet available to determine if treatment significantly delays this transition.- Progressive-Relapsing MS
In this relatively rare course of MS (5%), people experience steadily worsening disease from the beginning, but with clear attacks of worsening neurological function along the way. They may or may not experience some recovery following these relapses, but the disease continues to progress without remissions.Since no two people have exactly the same experience of MS, the disease course may look very different from one person to another. And, it may not always be clear to the physician—at least right away—which course a person is experiencing.
For more important information about MS, check out Just the Facts (.pdf)
Visit Hawaiihelpsms.org
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment