Help-
Proventus
Making Life Fairer
Working Together to Make a Difference
UK Charity No 1131517
Working together to make a difference
We are a member of the Fund Raising Standards Board
We are all volunteers and the advice we receive is also given freely.
All donations are used to further the work we do.
Provide Support
UK Charity
No 1131517
Multiple Sclerosis
It is important to remember that MS is only one part of a person and not the person.
MS does not represent them, it is not their identity, they are as normal as the next person.
Find Us Here
Diagnosis
A doctor diagnoses a patient as having MS much as they would diagnose a patient as having a broken leg
Sclerosis (MS) is a label given by the medical community to describe a physical condition; it is not a diagnosis of a specific disease.
Neither label describes the cause of the condition nor does it suggest the best way to treat the condition. MS and many other inflammatory conditions are considered to be "autoimmune" in nature, the body's misguided attack on "self," and that the only way to help the patient is to suppress various levels of the immune system much like one might tranquillize a barking watch dog. This becomes problematic because we NEED our immune systems to keep us healthy. Neither a watch dog nor an immune system can protect us if they are not allowed to do their jobs.
Currently, there is no one diagnostic test that determines whether a person has Multiple Sclerosis.
In April, 2001, an international panel in association with the NMSS of America recommended revised diagnostic criteria for multiple sclerosis. These new criteria have become known as the McDonald criteria after their lead author. They make use of advances in MRI imaging techniques.
While MS has visible symptoms, many are not outwardly apparent, only the MS person may be aware of these symptoms which can affect daily life, as well as treatment. They may experience numbness or tingling, blurring of vision, tiredness etc. The symptoms may cause them to be irritable, apprehensive, depressed.
Multiple Sclerosis is generally marked by periods of:
Progression - the advancement (usually slowly) of the disease from one stage to another.
Types of MS
Remission - The various symptoms are often eased and reduced. Remissions may be short
lived yet may last for many months or years. Remission
Relapse
An acute worsening of MS symptoms that is sustained for a day or more followed by an improvement of the symptoms over one to four weeks would indicate a relapse has occurred.
Bladder dysfunction, is common amongst MS people and can cause great discomfort and embarrassment to the sufferer. Mobility is considered, amongst the MS people we know, to be one of the most frustrating aspects of MS.
Multiple Sclerosis is a disease that is extremely difficult to diagnose. There are many varied neurological conditions that produce similar symptoms.