When I first met DH we had a woman with 2 children living next door. Her husband was away overseas and DH used to help her out with things. She noticed her health rapidly going down hill and within a week was in a wheelchair. I can’t imagine how scary this was for her. She is only in her early 30’s. Since then her DH came home early and she has been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. She will also been in a wheel chair the rest of her life because it is on the worst end of the spectrum. Everytime May comes around I always think of her.
MS is usually diagnosed between 20-40 years of age which is where most of us moms are at right now. I thought I would take the time to share what it is and what to look for.
“(MS), chronic, slowly progressive autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system attacks the protective myelin sheaths that surround the nerve cells of the brain and spinal cord (a process called demyelination), resulting in damaged areas that are unable to transmit nerve impulses. The disease also gradually damages the nerves themselves. There are elevated numbers of lymphocytes in the cerebral spinal fluid and of T cells in the blood (see immunity).
The onset of MS is usually at age 20 to 40 years, and its many symptoms affect almost every system of the body. There may be visual difficulties, emotional disturbances, speech disorders, convulsions, paralysis or numbness of various regions of the body, bladder disturbances, and muscular weakness. The course of the disease varies greatly from person to person. In some patients, the symptoms remit and return, sometimes at frequent intervals and sometimes after several years. In others the disease progresses steadily.
There is a genetic predisposition to MS, and environmental factors also seem to play some role. The disease is more common in temperate climates (1:2,000) than in the tropics (1:10,000).
There is no cure for MS, but three drugs–all of which first became available in the 1990s–can slow its underlying progress and reduce the frequency of attacks. These are Avonex and Betaseron, both forms of beta interferon (a synthetic version of a natural substance produced by the immune system), and Copaxone.”
http://education.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia/entry?id=32760
If you would like to donate to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society or learn more information please visit: http://www.nationalmssociety.org/index.aspx
May 14th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
Krissy thank you for posting this:) My grandmother suffered from and then passed away from MS.