2023-05-30 05:08:41
She often becomes the “Disease with a 1,000 Faces” mentioned because its course, the symptoms and also the success of the therapy are so different from patient to patient. Multiple sclerosis – MS for short – is one autoimmune diseaseat which the own immune system attacks the outer, insulating layer of nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord. Inflammatory foci form in a wide variety of places (hence “multiple” sclerosis from Greek skleros for “hard”, i.e. the hardening of organs and tissue). Nerve fibers are damaged as a result and can no longer transmit the messages correctly. Physical disorders and neurological deficits occur.
Women in particular are affected by multiple sclerosis
Around 280,000 people in Germany live with MS, 1.2 million in Europe and 2.8 million worldwide, according to the latest figures from the Federal Association of the German Multiple Sclerosis Society (DMSG). It affects women about three times more often than men, and four times as often in young people up to the age of 20. What exactly is the reason for this is still unclear. According to the DMSG, obesity in girls increases their risk of developing MS later, as do the generally listed risk factors for MS: smoking and alcohol, too little time in the fresh air, too little exposure to the sun and a lack of physical activity.
Multiple sclerosis is not muscle wasting
Multiple sclerosis is not muscle wasting, as the acronym “MS” is often misinterpreted. Nor is it necessarily deadly. Multiple sclerosis is neither contagious nor a mental or purely genetic disease. Also, people with MS do not always end up in a wheelchair.
Causes: What Causes Multiple Sclerosis?
What exactly causes MS is still unclear. The genes probably play a role. However, the disease only breaks out when other factors such as certain environmental influences or a viral infection also come into play.
Smoking, low vitamin D levels, the connection between the individual intestinal flora and inflammation in the central nervous system, the so-called gut-brain axis as well as obesity or a disturbed day-night rhythm are considered as possible triggers for MS as well as a Epstein-Barr virus infection.
Early Signs and Symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis
The first symptoms of multiple sclerosis usually appear in early adulthood, between the ages of 20 and 40, but sometimes earlier. Visual disturbances and sensory disturbances on the skin are typical for the beginning of multiple sclerosis. But other symptoms of MS can also occur right at the beginning of the disease, such as:
- Motor deficits (e.g. insecurity when walking and in fine motor skills, slurred speech or bladder dysfunction)
- balance disorders
- attention disorders
- Exhaustion (so-called fatigue)
- sexual dysfunctions
- depressive moods
forms of multiple sclerosis
Depending on how the MS progresses, the symptoms manifest themselves differently in those affected. Multiple sclerosis can occur in the following forms:
Relapsing multiple sclerosis: At the beginning of the disease, this type of course predominates with more or less regular relapses. About 90 percent of all MS patients live with this form of MS in the first 10 to 15 years. A flare-up in which symptoms appear can last for a few days or even weeks. In the beginning, the limitations usually disappear completely, later the symptoms remain in whole or in part.
In the so-called primary progressive or primary chronic progressive course, the disease progresses continuously from the start without any clear flare-ups. About ten percent of people with MS suffer from this form.
40 to 50 percent of all MS patients who initially suffer from relapsing multiple sclerosis have a so-called secondary progressive or secondary chronic progressive course after 10 to 15 years of the disease. After 20 years, their share is even 90 percent. Even with this form, the condition worsens continuously, without recognizable flare-ups.
Diagnosis of multiple sclerosis
Since the initial symptoms of MS cannot always be clearly classified, a detailed examination is necessary for a reliable diagnosis. These include in particular:
- a comprehensive anamnesis, i.e. a detailed recording of the previous medical history
- a neurological and physical examination – here various bodily functions are checked and queried
- a test for “evoked potentials” – nerve conductivity and speed are measured here
- a lumbar puncture (collecting cerebrospinal fluid) – it provides evidence of inflammatory changes
- a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI, magnetic resonance imaging of the brain and spinal cord)
Therapy of MS: Preventing or delaying progression
Multiple sclerosis is not yet curable. In the event of acute flare-ups, MS patients receive high-dose cortisone, which has an anti-inflammatory effect. The goal of treating MS is generally to stop or delay the progression of the disease.
Because MS is an autoimmune disease, people with MS need a strong immune system. Medications can help, as can a healthy lifestyle with appropriate nutrition. We recommend, for example: lots of vegetables and anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids. The following should be avoided: too many carbohydrates and sugary foods.
Chemotherapy for severe MS courses
In severe cases, where MS progresses rapidly, people with MS can also be treated with chemotherapy. In this therapy, chemotherapy is used to first switch off your own immune system, which is directed against your own body. The patients then receive an infusion of bone marrow cells that have previously been removed from them. They should grow in the bone marrow and form a new immune system, so to speak, that no longer attacks the nerve sheaths.
Thanks to ever-improving therapies, the life expectancy of people with MS is hardly any shorter than that of healthy people.
relief of symptoms
Another goal in the treatment of MS patients is to alleviate the symptoms in order to maintain the highest possible quality of life – despite multiple sclerosis. In addition to medication, the following treatments can help:
- physical therapy
- occupational therapy
- speech therapy
- psychotherapy
- neuropsychological therapy
Help for MS patients
In search of therapies, rehabilitation facilities and new research results, the Federal Association of German Multiple Sclerosis Society, the national associations and the MS Competence Network Information for MS sufferers and interested parties.
World MS Day on May 30th
On World MS Day, which has been celebrated since 2009 and has always taken place on May 30th since 2019, MS associations and self-help groups worldwide – in Germany above all the German Multiple Sclerosis Society (DMSG) – initiate Action events on the subject of MS. The aim is to raise public awareness of the chronic disease and to educate people about multiple sclerosis and its impact on everyday life.
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