Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Facts
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is one of the most common diseases of the central nervous system. Today over 2,500,000 people around the world have MS.
Multiple sclerosis is the result of damage to myelin - a protective sheath surrounding nerve fibres of the central nervous system. When myelin is damaged, this interferes with messages between the brain and other parts of the body.
Symptoms vary widely and include blurred vision, weak limbs, tingling sensations, unsteadiness and fatigue. For some people, multiple sclerosis is characterized by periods of relapse and remission while for others it has a progressive pattern. For everyone, it makes life unpredictable.
- Multiple sclerosis is a progressive disease of the nervous system, for which there is no cure.
- People with MS can typically experience one of four disease courses, each of which might be mild, moderate, or severe: Relapsing-remitting MS, primary progressive MS, secondary progressive MS and progressive-relapsing MS.
- More women than men have multiple sclerosis.
- MS is the most common diseases of the central nervous system in young adults.
- In multiple sclerosis, the protective myelin covering of the nerve fibres in the central nervous system is damaged.
- Inflammation and ultimate loss of myelin causes disruption to nerve transmission and affects many functions of the body.
- Multiple sclerosis is not directly hereditary, although genetic susceptibility plays a part in its development.
- Diagnosis of MS is generally between 20 and 40 years of age, although onset may be earlier.
- The incidence of MS increases in countries further from the equator.
- Currently there are five therapies approved for relapsing-remitting MS: Avonex® (Biogen Idec), Betaseron® (Bayer Schering Pharma AG),
Copaxone® (Teva Pharmaceutical), Rebif® (EMD Serono), Tysabri® (Biogen Idec and Elan). - Currently there are few treatment options available for secondary or primary progressive multiple sclerosis patients.