s are not mutually exclusive. Kraft (1999) cites the widespread use of beta interferons and a substance called glatiramer acetate to target the formation of myelin lesions. Other drugs tend to target symptom control and support muscle and neural function (Kraft, 1999). However, use of the drugs is an intervention and management strategy, not a cure. Each drug must be monitored for side effects or must be taken in conjunction with other features of a treatment program, such as engaging in sufficient amounts of exercise or adding the use of such mechanical support as canes or walkers. It must also be understood that MS attacks all categories of nerves, not just those that have an impact of muscular function. Cognitive and psychological impairment may manifest as well, which has implications for career, emotional life, and transpersonal relationships with close family and friends as well as social encounters more generally. That is why all of the attributes of drug therapy, while necessary for treatment, are not sufficient to answering MS if the patient is to avoid progressively worsening disability. Especially in cases where the patient's livelihood may suffer on account of the disease, vocation-oriented rehabilitation is called for.
The variety of symptoms that many appear with MS can explain why vocational rehabilitation is so important for patients: weakness, fatigue, vertigo, loss of vision, pain, lack of coordination, bladder and bowel dysfunction, cognitive and emotional lapses, etc. (Zajicek, 2001).
These symptoms are linked with the motor skills that are typically mastered by the age of three (Piaget & Inhelder, 1969) and with the cognitive skills that are embedded in the very consciousness of self and the world that comes with normal psychophysical and psychosocial development. Voluntary and involuntary muscle groups are affected, and both physical and psychological systems can be compromised. The picture is further complic...