Progression of
MS or Stages of MS
Most cases of Multiple Sclerosis start out very mild with symptoms that
tend to come and go for over a period of 2 to 5 years before the MS symptoms become severe enough or consistent
enough that the person whose body is under attack by Multiple Sclerosis realizes that something more drastic
or more serious than a mild cold or a short-lived flu virus is going on that is
tearing down their health and making them sicker, more often than other people
that are around them.
Part of the reason that this tends to happen this way is that until the symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis become severe enough -- such as the
symptoms of ms insomnia, ms heat sensitivity, ms incontinence, ms vision problems, and
several other of the long list of possible early symptoms that can be
associated with many of the cases of Multiple Sclerosis these
symptoms are not so easy to recognize that they are associated together and
caused by the autoimmune disorder called Multiple Sclerosis. It
isn't until enough of the broad range symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis appear more often on a more consistent
basis that a pattern emerges that makes it easier to see that these are not
just unassociated health problems that are occurring.
This is all so puzzling to doctors and patients alike because it
is all too easy to mistake the mild MS symptoms initially for
other conditions that are not considered chronic or as severe as the majority
of Multiple Sclerosis cases
can become. Once the mild Multiple Sclerosis symptoms become more noticeable and more
regular in their appearance, this is often when the person battling with the
mild symptoms of MS actually decides that they had better
go to a doctor to help them figure out why they are feeling so exhausted, or
just plain sick so much of the time.
Doctors typically run ms MRI tests when they are diagnosing Multiple Sclerosis to determine if the patient’s symptoms
are actually being caused by MS demyelinating the spinal cord or the brain. The term
sclerosis, that is part of the name for MS means scarring. The reason this term
is used for part of the name for is because on the MRI test results more often
than not, scarring can be seen as plaques or lesions on the spinal cord or
throughout different locations in the brain.
The ms plaques, ms lesions or ms scarring that is seen on the ms mri test results appears as a result of Multiple Sclerosis attacking and damaging the myelin sheath along
the spinal cord and through out the brain.
Multiple
Sclerosis targets and
attacks nerve tissue through out the body, resulting in scarring or damage to
whatever the nerves are attacked. Since our brains are 80% nerve tissue and
throughout the rest of our bodies are 60% nerves, this means that there is a
large percentage of nerves throughout our bodies that can be attacked and
damaged by Multiple Sclerosis.
Because Multiple Sclerosis is
becoming more widely seen in more countries around the world, the medical
communities in many different countries are joining forces to work towards
finding a cure for Multiple Sclerosis.
In the meantime, until a cure for MS is found, the doctors in many
countries around the world are using more different methods in an effort to
bring relief to the symptoms of MS that many of their patients are battling with on an
on-going basis.
Because the symptoms of MS tend not to stay constant, but change
periodically as the MS appears to attack different parts of the body over time,
this makes it even more of a challenge for doctors to determine what course of
action to take for each separate case of MS that each of their Multiple Sclerosis patients are experiencing.
The 4 Multiple Sclerosis Types are:
1. Relapsing and
Remitting Multiple Sclerosis or Remitting
Multiple Sclerosis
2. Primary
Progressive Multiple Sclerosis, Progressive
Multiple Sclerosis, or Progressive MS
3. Secondary
Progressive Multiple Sclerosis
4. Progressive
Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis
Most cases of Multiple Sclerosis start out as Relapsing-Remitting
Multiple Sclerosis, but many of the cases of Multiple can also start out being diagnosed as Primary Progress
MS from the beginning.
Once Relapsing and
Remitting MS progresses to a much more advanced stage, with
much more severe symptoms, which often includes becoming more severely
disabled, then it is called Secondary
Progressive MS.
The rarest form of MS is Progressive Relapsing
MS, since only 5% of all cases of MS are diagnosed as this form of Multiple Sclerosis.
Relapsing and
Remitting Multiple Sclerosis is
characterized by MS attacks or ms relapses, where the
nerves are attacked and some degree of scarring or demyelination often results.
The ms relapses are often followed by periods of
remission, where the nervous system sends its maintenance or repair cells to
start to repair the damage the myelin sheath along the spinal cord.
During the relapses, Multiple Sclerosis also is known for attacking and
damaging the Blood Brain Barrier that surrounds and protects the brain from
toxins entering the brain and cause damage to the brain nerve cells.
After each of the ms exacerbations or ms relapses subside, the body also sends the
special nerve maintenance cells or glial cells, to work on repairing the Blood
Brain Barrier too.
Unless something can be found to curb the progression of Multiple Sclerosis in our bodies, the more extreme the MS symptoms become and the more frequent or severe
the results of each MS attack become, the more likely we will at
some point end up with ms disability that takes away the ability to walk and
with needing to use a wheelchair on a daily basis.
Although this can sound somewhat discouraging at first glance, there is more
and more information becoming available about the Multiple Sclerosis disease
process and about alternative and natural ways that can help to reduce many of
the symptoms of MS.
Ways to help reduce ms symptoms can include:
* yoga for ms
* multiple
sclerosis massage therapy
* ms exercise and intense ms physical
therapy
* ms acupuncture
* ms diet changes
* ms nutrition changes
* ms vitamins, including
* Cranosacrial
therapy multiple sclerosis
Along with
many other alternative and natural ways to bring relief to those with MS.
To find out more information about Multiple Sclerosis
and about ways to help reduce your symptoms of
MS, complete the form below to subscribe to our FREE
Multiple Sclerosis Report.
