Multiple Sclerosis Research Paper

Thesis: Multiple sclerosis brings daily challenges to whomever struggles with it, but with the right team of doctors and medication, it can be maintained.

MS is usually occurs at age of 15 to 55 with the average onset at about 30 years of age. Women are twice more likely than men to develop this debilitating autoimmune disease (Love, 2006). Due to the heterogeneity of the disease, where it can affects many sites of the CNS such as the brain cortex, brainstem, spinal cord as well as the optic nerve, thus the clinical symptoms of MS are widely ranged.

Anyone can develop MS, but many patients share the following characteristics. The majority experiences their first symptoms between ages 20 and 40. Caucasians are more than twice as likely as other races to develop MS. MS is two to three times more common in women as in men. MS is five times more common in temperate climates like those of the northern US, Canada, and Europe. And people whose close relatives have MS are more susceptible to developing the disease, but there is no evidence the disease is directly inherited.

     Anyone can develop MS, but many patients share the following characteristics. The majority experiences their first symptoms between ages 20 and 40. Caucasians are more than twice as likely as other races to develop MS. MS is two to three times more common in women as in men.

In the world of neurology, there are a vast amount of neurological disorders, conditions, and diseases. One severe disease is known as Multiple Sclerosis. In this research essay, I will be discussing what multiple sclerosis is, symptoms, causes, personal experience, and treatments.

3. Genetics have also been found to be a major contributor and having a first-degree relative such as a parent increases the chances of MS several fold above the general population.

Having the disease multiple sclerosis can affect one's life tremendously. In the essay, "On Being A Cripple", the author Nancy Mairs suffers from the disease and has a love-hate relationship with it. Socially, it appears that although Mairs has the disease, she accepts it and does normal things like going on vacations with her family. However, personally, it's hard for her at times and she gets into a depressed state and wishes she didn't have the disease when she has a falling or an incident. Multiple Sclerosis, also referred to as “MS”, is a disease that can affect one's brain, spinal cord, and eyes.

MS(Multiple Sclerosis) is a disease which gradually hardens all tissues and also causes scars. These scars form when the persons immune system's cells go into the central nervous system and cause inflammation to the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves. MS is also a non contagious and unpredictable disease. MS is also the most common chronic disease (when it comes to the CNS (Central Nervous System)) with young Australians. Throughout all the states of Australia, Victoria is the State with the most people that have the condition.

Multiple Sclerosis, commonly known as MS is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system. Scientists have been studying MS since the 19th century. In MS, the body’s immune system produces cells and antibodies that attack myelin in your brain which is essential for the nerves in your brain and spinal cord to conduct electricity to perform its function. The attack on myelin results in vison loss, paralysis, numbness, muscle weakness, difficulty walking, stiffness, spasms, and bladder and bowel problems. MS has varying degrees of severity and affects people between the ages of 20-50, mostly women. Although there are treatments, there is no cause and cure yet.

Factors such as geography (those in a temperate climate have an elevated risk compared to those in a color climate or whom are near the equator). Race is also indicative of higher multiple sclerosis probability, with Caucasians being the highest, and Asian communities the lowest. A significance has also been directly linked to women who smoke cigarettes to be 1.6 times more likely to develop multiple sclerosis, and all individuals who smoke to have a higher risk for rapid progression of multiple sclerosis. More research is being done on these factors, and they are learning new facts and disproving old theories as they learn. (MSAA)

Multiple Sclerosis, commonly referred to as MS, is an unpredictable disorder of the central nervous system, or CNS, and it is a chronic inflammatory disorder. MS is a disease that involves the immune system attacking the CNS. They myelin that covers and protects the nerve fibers is damaged, as well as the nerve fibers themselves. They myelin that is damaged forms scar tissue know as sclerosis. This is where the name of the disease came from. When the nerve fibers or myelin is damaged, the nerve fibers that travel to and from the spinal cord are distorted or interrupted this is why there is a variety of symptoms that can occur. Multiple Sclerosis affects rather young individuals, as young as twenty. It is most common in adults in their twenties

To scientists, this suggests that exposure to some environmental agent before puberty may cause a predisposition for MS later on in life. There is also evidence that suggests that vitamin D may play a role. This could explain the previous statement that MS occurs more frequently farther from the equator, since that area frequently receives more sunlight which aids in the synthesis of Vitamin D. This possibility is now being studied by a society-funded epidemiological study in Australia [2]. There is also the possibility that a virus earlier on in life may cause, or trigger, MS. Viruses are known to cause inflammation and a breakdown of myelin, so it is possible that a virus that breakdowns myelin may trigger MS. Viruses currently being researched are measles, Human Herpes Virus-6, and Epstein-Barr [3]. Genetically, several different genes are believed to have a role in MS. According the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation, if one parent has Multiple Sclerosis, the risk of their child or children getting the same disease is approximately two to five percent [3].

This disorder affects an estimated 2.3 million people around the world (National Multiple Sclerosis Society, 2017) and 400,000 people in the US

Multiple Sclerosis (MS), is considered to be "a immune-mediated disease" (nationalmssociety.org). This means within the Central Nervous System (CNS), the immune system mistakenly attacks myelin – The "fatty substance that surrounds and insulates the nerve fibers" (nationalmssociety.org) – as well as nerve fibers themselves. When the myelin and nerve fibers are damaged, the myelin interferes with nerve conduction. The symptoms of MS relate to this interruption of signaling between

There are a great number of studies had been conducted to explain the epidemiology of this multiple sclerosis. Some believes that the distribution of this disease is based on the climatic while other assume that it is related to patterns migration and ancestry. Some also believes that it is related to socioeconomic issues that evade awareness and diagnoses.