can anyone give me info on mutiple sclerosis?

Question

a friend of mine has been diagnosed with MS they found mutiple lesions on her brain and she is losing her sight and hearing how long do people survive and how bad does it get serious answers only please

Answer 1

You are a wonderful friend to be asking questions about MS when your friend has it. The better you understand what she is going through, the better you can help her help herself.

I've had MS for over 45 years. It was misdiagnosed for most of those years; then, it became a "diagnosis of exclusion" - they couldn't find anything else to "call it"!! Finally, in 1997, after my MRI and spinal tap, I received the clinical diagnosis of MS.

OK: here are some facts about MS.

1) MS is an autoimmune disease where one's own immune system attacks the mylin sheath of the nerves, causing resulting "symptoms" in the part of the body "serviced" by those nerves.

2) There are 4 basic types of MS. The first 2 are what most people have, and is called Relapsing/Remitting (R/R) MS - in either the benign or more aggressive state. In this type of MS, the person will have what are called "exacerbations" - read attacks - and then be "ok" for extended periods of time. In most cases, an MRI and/or a spinal tap will show the lesions on the brain or spinal column; then, the doctors can aggressively treat the symptoms with medications like steriods and what we call the "ABC drugs" (Avonex, Beteserone, and Copaxine). The ABC drugs are shots of what is basically interferon.

If caught early enough, these medical interventions have shown EXCELLENT progress in stopping the rate of progress of this disease.

Interestingly enough, many people can experience one or two exacerbations and then go for decades with none!!!

3) The last two types are more difficult: primary progressive (PP) and secondary progressive. In secondary progressive (SP), you have people like me who started out with R/R, and then "progressed" into SP.

In the case of PP or SP, the exacerbations are frequent, and become actual symptoms that do not go into remission like they did in R/R. Symptoms are like your friend's problems with sight and hearing.

The ABC drugs and some others are being used to treat the PP type of MS; there are no current effective treatments to "stop the progression" of SP; we can only "manage the symptoms".

For more information about the specific symptoms of MS, you can use any Internet search engine and plug in the words MS symptoms. You'll find TONS of information.

For information from someone who has the disease, please check out my website: http://www.disabilitykey.com. I have 2 blogs there, each containing tons of information. AND, I'm an expert on applying for, and attaining disability insurances!! It is my passion and mission to assist others with disabilities, like your friend.

Thank you for being a good friend. The best thing you can tell her is that the absolute most important thing impacting how MS effects someone is their attitude. If you take the attitude that MS is a chronic condition and that you can maximize your quality of life by learning all you can about your condition and your symptoms, and by working with your health care team to "manage" your symptoms, than you are already far ahead of others. My website provides tons of info about Chronic disease self management.

Finally, finally, if your friend joins the local chapter of the National MS Assn., she'll find lots of assistance and the help of others "like her".

Best of luck to your friend!!!

Answer 2

the central nervous system controls much of the body's functioning and alot of this passes through something called the white matter, ms is where the white matter is attacked, symptoms are blurred vision, loss of coloured vision and can lead to total blindness, also muscle weakness, muscle spasms, loss of co-ordination, foot dragging, if your friend has many lesions on the brain, or was diagnosed after 40, or has less than a year interval between her first two relapses then it sounds like she has the most serious form, but with ms you can never predict what is going to happen you really have to take one day at a time, i am a nurse in the UK on an ms ward

Answer 3

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Answer 4

Hi,
I've had ms for 8 years. I was diagnosed at 24.
You cannot die from ms unless you inhale your ginger ale or other such objects in your mouth. Can't do much about spit or other such expectorants. Most stages start out with different things going funky. Relapsing Remitting is the first stage, and hopefully the last. Tell your friend that she isn't crazy, it's a different slant on things, and hilarious as hell sometimes.
My first stage was also my eyes. Blind spots and too painful to move. They do have things to deal with the symptoms, painkillers, natural or not, massages never hurt anyone.
Best of luck to yourself and friend, she has a good one, and her symtoms may go away and never come back.

Answer 5

I had first attack in 74 effecting balance for a time before disappearing for 10 years when my eyes went the same but returned after a couple of months.In 91 it was balance and pain in the legs which has been with me since. I use a chair most of the time and continue to work on a lesser job but I get there.You can't say what is going to happen better or worse you just have to say its happened and it must not get me down. I will win.It does not matter how long you have but make sure they miss you.

Answer 6

You should google it or look up on the site for Montel Williams as he has had MS for years and he probably has some information on it on his site. MS is a terrible disease. It affects your vision and your legs start to give out and you could lose control of bladder and bowel function. I know someone with MS and it has been progressing for years. Some people have remissions for years. She is using a walker now and she is 35. There are websites you can visit with all of the information.

Answer 7

MS is a disease of nerve axons as "plaques" are slowly formed (chronic disease) and interfer with nerve impulses. Word sclerosis means hardening. Usually sight is affected first then comes muscle weaknesses. You may want to check Google.com for any vitamin therapy!! Make sure to confirm anything you do with the Doc in charge.

Answer 8

This is an auto immune disease, which behaves differently with different metabolisms.
How long she survives will depend a lot on how severely the immune system attacks her.
I knew a remote relative who survived for about 15 years after she was diagnosed. She died in 1968.

Answer 9

Hon, I must say you friend is very lucky to have actaully been diagnosed. It takes some people years and decades to find out what is wrong with them. There are different stages of progression. Some are slow and some are fast.

here is the best info I have found so far:
http://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz/Atoz/ency/multiple_sclerosis.jsp

Answer 10

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