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“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.”

Harry S Truman 1884-1972

MULTIPLE

SCLEROSIS

It may well benefit the MS person and assist the clinician if they keep a diary of their symptoms, the affects of any treatments they are undergoing, how they feel generally, what pain they experience, if at all.

Remember you may look well on the outside but feel awful on the inside - you cannot expect people to help you, to know and understand how you feel unless you tell them!

 

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Denial.Some MS people when first given their diagnosis may think "perhaps the doctor made a mistake, maybe I really don’t have multiple sclerosis." especially if the symptoms are intermittent.

You have to be able to say "I have Multiple Sclerosis" others cannot help you until you begin to help yourself.

 

Treatment and support may be available, however it is important that you take charge of the situation, it is your body, your problem.

 

Do not be pushed into decisions until you have asked all the right questions and have answers that satisfy you.

Research all available sources of information, do not rely on one particular source for the answers to your questions.

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Be Aware

Naturopaths, Acupuncturists, Herbalists, Homeopaths etc cannot cure MS, they may be able to help with lifestyle and health issues, and then only if they have knowledge and understanding in depth of MS.

Symptoms of MS may be masked by alternative treatments leading to the advancement of the disease.

 

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Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease that affects the human central nervous system (CNS).

 

Its pathology is characterised by areas of myelin loss and a variable degree of neuronal and axonal damage.

 

The principal determinant of long-term MS disability is neuronal degeneration.

 

The cause of MS is unknown, as is the exact pathogenesis of the disorder. Ref  

 

MS is clinically a heterogeneous condition, (not uniform in structure or composition), and still defies exact definition. Ref

 

 

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.

 

 

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Multiple Sclerosis is the most common primary neurological disorder of young adults. It is an old disease with the first written record of the disease considered to be the description of the illness experienced by Lidwina of Schiedam, Holland (1380-1433).

 

Lidwina’s first serious experience of her illness was after a bone breaking fall while skating on a frozen canal near her home.

Her 37 years of suffering, acceptance of her situation, and mystical experiences attracted the attention of clergy who documented her condition.

Canonized by Pope Leo X111 in 1890 Lidwina is considered to be the patron saint of figure skaters

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Multiple Sclerosis is a label given by the medical community to describe a physical condition; it is not a diagnosis of a specific disease.

A doctor diagnoses a patient as having MS much as they would diagnose a patient as having a broken leg.

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 "auto-immune" 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.

 

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Currently, there is no one diagnostic test that determines whether a person has Multiple Sclerosis.

 

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MS is considered a Relapsing / Remitting disease                                                     Which means the symptoms come and go in waves.

It is important to be aware, even when the symptoms aren't ‘acting up’, the disease may still be progressing.

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.