- Multiple sclerosis has found to occur long before the onset of its symptoms and diagnosis
- It starts right from the teenage years and lead to MS diagnosis later
- One of the reasons of Multiple sclerosis is viral infection that plays a vital role regardless of genetic risk
What’s Multiple Sclerosis (MS)?
Multiple Sclerosis is basically a disease of the Central Nervous System, (CNS) that goes unpredictable for years.
It largely affects the brain and spinal cord. As per the data collected by National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS), the number of adults in the US suffered from MS in 2017 were up to 1 million. The number became twice as compared to the data collected in the year 1975.
From the above figures, you can imply how fast the above disease is progressing in young adults in the USA and other regions.
Talking about the initial symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis (MS), they are vision related including red-green color distortion, blurred vision and double vision.
Although, the above symptoms are primary, they are not just restricted to the regions stated above and can appear in any other region of the body.
It all depends the exact part of the CNS damaged. There are some other symptoms other than vision like:
- Sensations of numbness, prickling, or “pins and needles”
- Emotion
- Memory and thinking
- Balance and muscle weakness
Currently, there is no remedy or cure of multiple sclerosis. But several different alternative treatments in the form of therapies are available.
These therapies do not cure the disease but manage the symptoms and even reduce the symptoms return.
What causes Multiple Sclerosis (MS)?
Although, the exact cause of Multiple Sclerosis is not known, experts believe that a combination of genetic and environment factors are responsible to cause the disease.
Experts also believe that MS happens to be an autoimmune disease. In many cases, it has been identified that people already suffering from MS, their immune system mistakenly attacks the myelin sheath coating of the CNS.
Please note that myelin protects the nerves and helps the information travel flawlessly between brain and the rest of the body.
But in cases where this protective covering (myelin) is damaged, it may result in either slow down or skip of the flow of information.
A Viral Trigger for MS
A deep study was conducted on causes that can become the reason of multiple sclerosis (MS) in adults. The team took some data of several million people born in Sweden between 1970 and 1994.
After studying the anomalies in their health report, experts found that there can be a number of serious infections in adolescence to become the risk factors for MS diagnosis in later stages.
The research also came to the conclusion that events responsible for the inflammation of the CNS can increase the risk of MS diagnosis.
A commonly known fever called glandular fever which occurs due to the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) showed the signs of its greatest association with MS diagnosis.
This is what Prof. Montgomery from the research team explains, “If one sibling develops glandular fever and goes on to develop MS, while the other does not develop glandular fever and does not develop MS, that would suggest that it is the glandular fever rather than any genetic predisposition that led to the MS.” he said.
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