Imagine waking up with a steady tremor of your hands, an unpredictable pain in the head and eyes, or difficulty getting your legs to walk, or holding on to a wall while ambulating due to severe major cramping and muscle stiffness, these are the real expressions of Multiple Sclerosis. These neurological symptoms were first identified in the early 14th and 15th centuries. The immune system attacks the myelin of the brain & spinal cord causing a cessation or misinterpretation of communication with the rest of the body. Due to this destruction or damage to the myelin, scar tissue forms and there central nervous system cannot communicate with the body effectively. This is the mechanics of Multiple Sclerosis, a disease that affects many people across the globe. Jean Martin Charcot, born in Paris, France, on November 29th, 1825, was a French neurologist, who brought about advance teaching and diagnosing of Multiple Sclerosis. He spoke French, German, English, and Italian, so he became well abreast of the medical literature concerning neurology in his century. Related to all his neurological advancements in his time, he has been called the “founder of modern neurology” and “the professor of anatomical pathology”. In 1853, Charcot became the “Chef de Clinique”, after writing a substantial thesis on his work on the differences between chronic gout and rheumatoid arthritis. For three years, Charcot held the preceding position before becoming the main “physician to the
Multiple sclerosis (MS) involves an autoimmune process that develops when a previous viral insult to the nervous system has occurred in a genetically susceptible individual. B lymphocytes, plasma cells, and activated T cells, along with proinflammatory cytokines, cause inflammation, oligodendrocyte injury and demyelination. Early inflammation and demyelination lead to irreversible axonal
The central nervous system (CNS) comprises grey matter, which contains neuron cell bodies and white matter, which contains the nerve axons. Most of the nerve axons are concentrically wrapped around by lipid-rich biological membrane, known as the myelin sheath. In the CNS, myelin is produced by oligodendrocyte. a type of glial cell. (Pfeiffer et al., 1993). These electrical insulating, multilamellar membranes significantly increase the electrical resistance, in which to prevent leakage of electrical currents from the axons, as well as decrease electrical capacitance to reduce the ability of the axons to store electrical energy (Shivane &
The causes for multiple sclerosis is unknown. It is an auto immune disease, which the immune system of the body attacks its own tissues. Multiple sclerosis is caused by damage of the myelin sheath. When the nerve covering is damaged, the nerve signals stops or slows down. The inflammation is caused by a nerve damage. This occurs in any region of the brain, optic nerve, and spinal cord. Women are more affected than men. Commonly diagnosed between ages 20 and 40, but it can be seen at any age.
b. Support: In 2007, it was reported that approximately 2.5 million people in the world have MS.
Multiple sclerosis, or MS, is a disease of the central nervous system. The central nervous system is made up of the brain and spinal cord. Both have nerve fibers that are wrapped in a myelin sheath. In MS, the myelin sheath becomes inflamed and gradually is destroyed. With the destruction of the myelin sheath comes an array of symptoms that may include numbness or tingling, balance problems, weakness, muscle spasms, and blurred vision.
The father of neurology, Dr. Charcot, examined the brain of a deceased patient because the patient had a tremor unlike anything he has treated before. He noticed plaques or abnormal clusters of chemically sticky proteins that build up amongst nerve cells. He also described the patient’s symptoms and changes in the brain that accompanied the plaques; this was the first description of multiple sclerosis. In England in 1873 and in the United States in 1878, multiple sclerosis was first recognized based off of Dr. Charcot’s description of the disease. In 1916, Dr. James Dawson performed autopsies on brains of patients who died with multiple
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
Multiple sclerosis, or MS as it is more commonly referred, is an immune mediated disease that involves the body's own defense mechanism, specialized immune cells, that ultimately attacks the central nervous system. Specifically, the myelin protein that coats axons and forms an electrically insulating layer for quicker processing of the nervous system, is attacked by cytotoxic cells that have crossed into the CNS. In a healthy patient, the blood brain barrier cannot be crossed by cytotoxic cells and it is speculated that an environmental component or outside source mediates this crossing. When the myelin is attacked, it forms scars in the CNS, as multiple sclerosis literally translates to “many scars,” which is the direct result of the disease. The scars disrupt the normal nerve impulses that travel through the central nervous system, and can cause a variety of symptoms including loss of cognition, fatigue, or numbness in the body (Evidence).
Multiple Sclerosis is a neurological disease that affects the central nervous system. The CNS consists of the brain and spinal cord. Myelin sheath, an insulation that covers the nerve fibers, is damaged resulting in multiple patches of scarred tissue called lesions. When the Melin sheath is destroyed, damage to the axon begins and causes a wide variety of symptoms. Axons are the fibers that carry electric impulses away from the nerve cell to different parts of the body. MS eventually causes permanent disability. Depending on the extent of the myelin damaged and the location damaged, determines the severity of the symptoms.
Multiple sclerosis, also known as MS, is an autoimmune and inflammatory disease that is very painful for both the patient and care giver. In the disease, there is inflammation and neurodegeneration acting at the same time. There is currently no known primary cause of multiple sclerosis. The disease is however characterized by damaged fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and the spinal cord. Myelin is a mixture of proteins and phospholipids that protects many nerve fibers enabling speed at which impulses are conducted. It is pathologically characterized as the presence of glial scars all over in the central nervous system. The disease was discovered by the French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot in 1868 when he examined the brain
Multiple Sclerosis is an autoimmune disorder where the myelin sheath within the Central Nervous System is attacked (National Multiple Sclerosis Society, 2017). The myelin sheath protects the axon of the nerve cell. When the myelin sheath is intact, the axon is able to carry impulses away from the neuron’s cell body, and the message carried is clear. With Multiple Sclerosis, the myelin sheath becomes scarred, hence the word “sclerosis”, and distorts the nerve impulses traveling over the CNS (National Multiple Sclerosis Society, 2017). This may cause the message to be changed or stopped altogether.
Multiple sclerosis, or MS, is a disease of the central nervous system. The central nervous system is made up of the brain and spinal cord. Both have nerve fibers that are wrapped in a myelin sheath. In MS, the myelin sheath becomes inflamed and gradually is destroyed. With the destruction of the myelin sheath comes an array of symptoms that may include numbness or tingling, balance problems, weakness, muscle spasms, and blurred vision.
It was a raw, blustery March day and I was leading four classmates to my house to hash out the remaining details of our current English presentation. When I opened the door, however, I received a surprise. I had not anticipated my mother still being home and neither had my group members. Their faces turned slightly blank, as if they were trying to hide their confusion and surprise. The previously relaxed atmosphere had become very formal and quiet. I had seen this before.
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.
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a neurologic disease that affects the Central Nervous System (CNS) through cellular immune response and the demyelination of CNS white matter (McCance et al., 2014, pp. 630–633). The initial causes of MS are unknown however, it is believed that it could possibly be due to an immune response to an initiating infection or an autoimmune response to CNS antigens on the myelin itself (Brück, 2005) (Miljković and Spasojević, 2013). MS is a result of the degradation of the myelin sheath surrounding neurons and therefore disrupts the transmission of action potentials along these cells. MS can display itself in the form of symptoms ranging from muscle weakness to trouble with sensation and coordination (NHS, 2016). The degradation of myelin leads the body to attempt to remyelinate the neurons, a process that in turn leads to the thickening of the cell by glial cells and this causes lesions to form (Chari, 2007). It is this thickening (sclerae) from which the disease gets its name. Sufferers of MS can either have a relapsing type of MS, in which there are episodes that lead to the worsening of symptoms for a period of time, or a progressive type of MS where symptoms gradually progress and worsen (McCance et al., 2014, pp. 630–633).