Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s Disease
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system. The disease causes myelin, a fatty tissue that helps nerve fibers conduct electrical impulses, to erode. It also impacts the nerve fibers by damaging the axons. When the myelin is damaged it results in a buildup of scar tissue that is known as plaque or sclerosis. Because of the damage to the nerves, electrical impulses to and from the brain are disrupted, producing the symptoms association with MS. This results in the following homeostatic effects on the body: “MS affects weakness, it causes weakness, it affects sensation, and it affects the bladder. It affects vision, and can cause partial or total blindness. It affects emotions and promotes forgetfulness” (Kraft and Burks, 2002, 1).
According to Drs. Ransohoff and Munschauer (2002), the definition of multiple sclerosis is “an immune mediated demyelinating disease of the central nervous system” (1). There are often visible and invisible symptoms suffered by those with MS. Visible symptoms include such things as difficult with vision, weakness and a lack of coordination, bladder problems and difficulty in walking. Invisible symptoms involve the emotions and memory of individuals with MS. Mood swings, certain types of pain, and forgetfulness are all invisible symptoms of MS. The typical course of MS includes onset between the ages of twenty and forty (Ransohoff et al., 2002, 1). Since MS does not generally shorten lifespan, patients must often deal with its symptoms for decades.
MS evolves over the long-run. The first years of the disease are characterized by alternating periods of relapsing and remitting. Secondary progressive MS sets in after the continuous damage that occurs in patients between attacks. Long-term MS includes secondary progressive MS and progressive-relapsing MS. In the former, peopl...