What happens if you have MS?
The brain and the central nervous system are very important in our
everyday lives. The brain sends electrical signals via the central
nervous system to different parts of the body. These signals control
many things, such as our movements, but also what we can see and what we
can remember. Healthy nerves are surrounded by myelin sheaths, which act
as a protective barrier and speed up signal transmission. In multiple
sclerosis (MS), a patient’s immune system mistakenly attacks and
destroys the myelin sheaths in the central nervous system (Figure 1). Scar tissue is formed in these
areas, which can cause problems in sending the signals along the
nerves. These problems in communication between the brain and the nerves
cause a lot of different symptoms.
Did you know that the term “Multiple Sclerosis” refers to the distinctive areas of scar tissue?
As MS harms the central nervous system, it can affect many parts of the body (Figure2). The symptoms usually start mild but get worse over time. The difficulty with these symptoms is that they are not all visible. For example, if a patient has issues with walking, it can easily be seen by other people. Problems with vision, hearing, memory and extreme fatigue can only be felt by the patient and are invisible to their family, friends and doctors. In each patient, the place and severity of the damage to the nerve cells are different, causing a different MS for every patient.
Diagnosis of MS
The combination of many invisible and different symptoms for each patient makes the diagnosis of MS hard. Still, there is a general timeline in the diagnosis process. The diagnosis of MS usually starts when the first serious symptoms like muscle loss or severe vision problems happen (Figure 3). A common first step is to go to the general practitioner (GP), who will likely send you to a neurologist, although in some cases patients first go to another specialist if the symptoms are unclear. Generally, the time between the first appointment with a neurologist and a diagnosis of MS is four weeks. The diagnosis is based on the McDonald criteria, which say that MS can be diagnosed when damage is found in different places of the central nervous system and at different timepoints.2 A neurologist will take an MRI scan to judge the presence of damage to the nerves (Figure 3). Aside from this, a lumbar puncture can be done to analyse the spinal fluid for signs of MS, but this method is very invasive and painful for patients.
The earlier a diagnosis is made, the better. It is not yet possible to cure MS, but treatments can slow down the disease’s progression, which is why early detection is important. Unfortunately, for 1 in 10 patients, around 300.000 people, the diagnosis can take years to complete. They remain undiagnosed for a longer time and do not get the treatment they need and for them, the disease’s progression cannot be slowed down.
It is not known what causes MS, but certain risk factors could
potentially trigger the disease. These are having a family member with
MS, having been infected with the Epstein Barr virus (causing Pfeiffer),
a vitamin D deficiency and smoking.3 Moreover, 69% of the patients
are women and it is the most common neurological disease for young
adults.
What can we do to help?
Improving the lives of people living with MS starts with better awareness. Knowing the symptoms and diagnostic process makes the public and healthcare professionals more aware of the warning signs. In this way, MS can be diagnosed earlier, which could improve the lives of patients with MS. Will you help us spread the word even further?
A perfect way to increase awareness is by targeting a large group of people between 20-40, for example, a sports association or a university, because they might be unaware that MS is the most common neurological disease for their age group. Our team has already tried to spread the word by giving lectures to fellow students about our project and we talked with our friends and family about MS.
If you want to know or do more, you can find links to several MS foundations and other MS resources that helped us in our journey. Here you can find more information and stay up to date with the latest research into the diagnosis and treatment of MS. If you are able to help patients with a donation, links are provided below! We thank you for reading this page and hopefully spreading the word about MS.