Diagnosing Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

Posted on April 25, 2012 by ShastaVang

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease with disabling side-affects. Over 40,000 Americans have it. MS is diagnosed through various tests and procedures.

Diagnosing Multiple Sclerosis (MS)The Ways You Diagnose Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis can be a life changing disease. There is no one multiple sclerosis test; instead you diagnose using carious tests. Some ways to get an accurate diagnosis are:

  • Go to a trained neurologist- A neurologist will know what tests to run better then an average doctor
  • MRI of the brain.-This can check for lesions and other things that can be in your brain
  • Spinal taps- This procedure remove fluid from your spine to test for disease such as MS
  • Blood samples-Blood samples from your arms can pick up on any intrusions in your blood stream that are because of diseases like multiple sclerosis.

Go To a Trained Neurologist

A neurologist is a specially trained doctor that works with the central nervous system, and types of nerves. You see these doctors if you are having symptoms of a neurological disease. Most of the time you will be referred to a neurologist if your doctor believes that you could have a neurological disease that he can’t handle. These doctors often diagnose patients who disease and medical problems including:

  • Multiple Sclerosis
  • Epilepsy
  • Severe Headaches
  • Tremors
  • Sleep Disorders
  • Recovering from Stroke
  • Parkinson’s Disease
  • Brain Cancer
  • A Traumatic Brain Injury
  • Alztimers Disease

These disease and medical issues are often what you will be referred to a neurologist for. MS is a large percentage of neurologist patients. The other two largest being Brain Cancer, and Parkinson’s disease.

MRI of Brain

An MRI or Magnetic Resosnse Imaging is a non-invasive procedure that s used to diagnose medical problems or diseases. An MRI uses radio frequency, pulses, a computer, and a magnetic field to take very detailed pictures of internal body structures. Most people get MRI’s on their bones, soft tissue, and organs. The detailed pictures of an MRI allow doctors to see medical diseases and problems more clearly than with pictures from x-rays, CAT Scans, CT Scans, or MDCT’s.

An MRI is safe to use for areas of the body such as the chest, and head because it does not use ionizing radiation like x-ray machines do. It is easier to read the picture of brain from an MRI than a MDCT. An fMRI (Functional Magnetic Resosnse Imaging) is a fairly new form of MRI. This new test allows doctors to take detailed pictures of the active part of the brain.

Lesions

A Lesion by definition is “part of a soft tissue that has been damaged.” When you have MS small portions of the brain can become damaged due to the side affects of the disease. An MRI or fMRI is a good way to find these lesions. A trained neurologist can often times tell what symptoms are causing a lesion in your brain, and can diagnose you from the data he or she gathers.

Blood Tests

A blood test is when a doctor takes blood from your body using a sterile needle and tube. The blood is transferred from the needle into the holding tube, and is never with contact with the surrounding air. A blood test is often times one of the easiest ways to check for certain diseases. Bacteria in the blood can be seen in a microscope and when your blood work is sent to a lab they look for specific bacteria. If you have multiple sclerosis certain types of bacteria can show up on blood work.

Spinal Tap

A Spinal Tap (Also known as Lumber Puncture) is a way to collect fluid from your spinal cord for testing. Your spinal chord and brain are surrounded by thick fluid. This fluid can help doctors and neurologists figure out what medical disease or problem their patient might be suffering from. Often something will show up in a Spinal Tap that will cause a neurologist to diagnose someone with multiple sclerosis if they have been having the correct symptoms.

A spinal tap is often used when a neurologist believes a patient might have an infection in their spinal chord or brain. This procedure can also be used to administer antibiotics, anti-cancer drugs, or anesthetic. A Spinal Tap is a very painful procedure and is often the last test a neurologist will have ordered for someone they believe has multiple sclerosis.

There is no solid way to diagnose MS. There have been people in the past who have been misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis because of doctors’ unsure knowledge about how to correctly diagnose the disease. However, doctors try their best to give correct diagnosis, and use all of the tests available to diagnose someone with multiple sclerosis or another medical problem or disease.

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Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Stages

Posted on April 21, 2012 by DeniceMinor

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) StagesMultiple Sclerosis (MS) is different for every person. This makes nearly everything about the disease complicated and uncertain. From diagnosis to possible progression of the disease, there are no clear answers. Because of statistical analysis, however, doctors can provide some sort of idea in how the disease progresses in the ‘typical’ MS sufferer.

Diagnosis and Testing for MS

Diagnosis for MS generally occurs between the ages of 20 and 40. There are, however, cases of MS that surface before and after this time period, but they are very rare.

Diagnosis and testing for MS can be very difficult, even for neurologists that specialize in Multiple Sclerosis. Early stages of MS can go undetected and a diagnosis of “probably” or “possibly” may be given in lieu of a “negative” or “positive.” As the disease progresses, however, the presence of Multiple Sclerosis becomes more evident.

Stages of Multiple Sclerosis

Benign MS is considered the very first stage in Multiple Sclerosis. Approximately 20% of diagnosed Multiple Sclerosis cases start in this phase of the disease. It is characterized by one or two attacks, each followed by complete recovery with no permanent disability. No disease progression is evident in benign cases.

In most benign MS cases, symptoms are motor or non-visual sensory related. Some MS cases that are diagnosed in this category will never progress to other stages of the disease. Others will experience a progression in the disease around 10 to 15 years after diagnosis.

Approximately 25% of MS diagnosis will fall into the category of Relapsing/Remitting MS. For some, this is the primary stage. For others, it is the stage after the benign stage. RR-MS is classified by sporadic acute attacks, otherwise known as exacerbations or relapses, followed by inactive periods of the disease.

Attacks during the RR-MS stage can last days or months, but it can be months or even years before another attack occurs. During the inactive phases, partial or complete recovery occurs. The disease can progress, however, even during the inactive phases. Nearly half of all RR-MS cases will continue on into the Secondary/Progressive phase of MS within the first 10 to 15 years and 40% will progress within 25 years.

The Secondary/Progressive phase of MS is reached by approximately 40% of all MS patients. Two sub categories exist in the SP-MS phase; those that retain an RR-MS pattern and those that lean closer to a Primary Progressive MS pattern. Those that retain their RR-MS pattern may continue to receive benefits from ImmunoModulatory drugs and treatments.

For MS patients that lean more towards Primary Progressive MS, the recovery from acute attacks now becomes less complete. Attacks often become less pronounced and remissions may phase out altogether. By the time this has happened, severe damage has occurred within the central nervous system and the disability becomes more evident. It is thought that somewhere in this time frame, damage from MS becomes irreversible.

Primary Progressive MS affects approximately 12% of all patients diagnosed with MS. For those that receive a diagnosis of PP-MS or move into a PP-MS diagnosis, generally have a slower onset of the disease and symptoms are more likely to include difficulty walking, motor dysfunction and increased disability with a lack of distinct inflammatory attacks. Fewer and smaller lesions are generally present for those diagnosed with PP-MS and disabilities progress continuously.

Progressive Relapsing MS accounts for only 3% of all MS cases but it is the most dreaded stage of MS because of the high mortality rate associated with this stage of MS. While PR-MS behaves much like PP-MS and RR-MS, there are some differences. Like Relapsing MS, Progressive Relapsing MS will have acute attacks, but unlike RR-MS and PP-MS, functions lost after attacks in PR-MS will never return.

Putting Fear in its Place

If you have recently been diagnosed with MS, you should know that no one can predict the course of your disease. While your doctor can provide you with probabilities and statistics, only time will tell if your disease will actually progress. Focusing on the uncertainty will only rob you of the life that you can have now, in this moment. Try to stay optimistic. Join a support group, seek therapy, find support from friends and family. These are all ways to help you stay positive about your condition.

The Continuing Fight for a Cure

While there is no cure at the present time for MS, researchers are constantly working towards a cure. A lot of ground-breaking research has been conducted over the last several years and a breakthrough could happen at any moment. There are also treatments that you can receive to help slow the progression of the disease. Some medication can help you live a fuller life despite the fact that you have MS. Life is what you make of it. This applies to everyone; not just MS sufferer

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The History of Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

Posted on April 15, 2012 by ShastaVang

The History of Multiple Sclerosis (MS)The disease multiple sclerosis is present in the lives of over 40,000 Americans, 75000 Canadians, and 50,000 Europeans. Multiple sclerosis can cause dizzy spells, loss of balance, severe headaches, loss of muscle control, and paralysis. This disease has a long and terrible history about it.

Who Discovered Multiple Sclerosis?

Jean Martin Charcot a French neurologist discovered multiple sclerosis in 1868 after conducting experiments on patients who had the same unexplainable symptoms. Charcot is considered the father of modern neurology and psychology, because of his numerous discoveries of psychological and neurological diseases. Charcot is most famous for discovering 15 diseases and solving over 150 medical mysteries. His discoveries include the famous Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease. He also dabbled in the arts, writing poetry about his discoveries, the people he saw, and things he found interesting. He died after going mad in 1893 at age 69.

The First Person Diagnosed With Multiple Sclerosis

The first person who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis was a young woman fromFrancein 1869, briefly after the discovery of the disease. She was twenty years old, and Jean Martian Charcot paid her a visit, There was and still is no cure for multiple sclerosis, however, after the diagnosis was confirmed she was given medications to help with pain. She died fairly young because the disease paralyzed her lungs. The first recorded case of something similar to multiple sclerosis was recorded in the early fourteenth century inHolland. A young girl was having unexplained and uncontrollable muscle spasms, and seizures. The doctors called it a medical mystery that could never be solved after her right side became paralyzed. A doctor’s journal records that this girl died at the age of 19, and the doctor believed that her symptoms were what caused the death. He and others believed it was a brain disease.

The First Oral Medication for Multiple Sclerosis

On September 22, 2010 the FDA approved the first oral multiple sclerosis medication called Novartis Gilneya.  Although it doesn’t treat multiple sclerosis the drug can help lower the chance of MS attacks, reverse paralysis, and low the effects of certain symptoms, along with taking care of pain. It was originally invented to help people who couldn’t receive a kidney treatment; however the necessary dose was far too toxic to give to people. It was found to help people with MS when given at five times a lower dosage.  The side effects include:

  • Elevated blood pressure
  • Shortness of breath
  • Diarrhea
  • Bronchitis
  • Distorted vision
  • Slowing of the heartbeat after first few doses

The drug was available by prescription early 2011, and the first prescription was given to mother Denise Malchano who was diagnosed in 1996. Her entire left side had been paralyzed, and she could no longer provide or care for her children on her own. She started the drug February of 2011, and on July 22nd 2011 the family has a picture of Denise jumping on a trampoline with the youngest daughter. She had spent almost the last 15 years of her life in a wheel chair, but with the help of Novartis Gilneya was out of the chair by March, and was leading a relatively normal life by July. She is 40 years old and is an active and caring mom. She is the first person to have a prescription for the drug.

Another Promising MS Drug

Another medication for multiple sclerosis is currently being tested in labs. Its current name is BG-12. Scott Thompson the creator is excited about it seeing that his wife has the disease. So far tests show that the drug is very potent but has many long term risks. It appears to be safer than the only other oral drug for MS on the market. It also has a very low dose. Scientists say that is should be approved for testing on humans by February of 2012.

Current MS Research

A treatment is currently being tested at the Multiple Sclerosis National Society. The treatment has no name, but is supposed to be injected into patients through IV, keep symptoms under control, and hopefully lead to remission of disease. SO far the tests are coming up unsuccessful and scientists in the society are beginning to doubt whether this treatment will ever actually be administered to patients. They are also currently testing a therapy on woman over 30 who have MS and the treatment seems to be going well, and helping the patients. The Society is also helping test the new BG-12 drug that is on its way to being tested on humans in 2012. Another drug is also in the works, however not much progress is being made.

Although multiple sclerosis is a terrible disease with a long history there are people trying to solve this disease. The hope is that in thirty years there will be a cure for MS. However, this seems like an unlikely prediction. It should not stop people from dreaming about the future, and the eventual cure of MS.

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