Multiple Sclerosis :: essays research papers

Multiple SclerosisJason Garoutte November 18, 1996 English / Mr. BluntMultiple sclerosis is one of the most misunderstood diseases of thiscentury. Since its discovery, in that location is still no known causes, no proventreatments, and no known cure, yet it affects possibly five hundred thousandpeople in the joined States alone. People need to learn more about this diseaseso it can be brought to the attention of the nation.Multiple Sclerosis is a disease of the profound nervous system. It abolishsthe fatty myelin sheath that insulates your nerve cells. Without thisinsulation, nerve communication is disrupted. The body then makes this worse byrepairing it, and clogging the area with scar tissue. Signals release from yourbrain and brain stem, such as muscle coordination signals or visual sensationsignals, are slowed greatly, or just blocked off. Thus, a person untune withMultiple Sclerosis can suffer any number of symptoms.Researchers are not sure yet as to the cause of Multiple Sclerosis. Thereis a kind of deadlock among scientists and doctors whether its hereditary,viral, or a combination of the two, with the disease being hereditary, but witha viral trigger, or just a simple chemic imbalance in the immune system. Onething is certain, though. Some sort of defect in the immune system causes whiteblood cells to attack and destroy the myelin sheath.There are five main types of Multiple Sclerosis. The first type is BenignMultiple Sclerosis. It is the least severe, has little progression, and takes uptwenty per centum of all cases. The second type is Benign retrogression-RemittingMultiple Sclerosis. It carries symptoms that fluctuate in severity, milddisability, and it makes up thirty percent of the total. The third type isChronic Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis. It is characterized by disability thatincreases with each attack, and it is the most everyday with forty percent of allcases. Chronic advancing Multiple Sclerosis is the fourth type. It has incessan t disability that worsens as time goes by, and ten percent of all casesare this. The last type is a very rare class called Acute Progressive MultipleSclerosis. This kind can kill in weeks or months, in contrast with the usualyears or decades.Due to the type of disease and the areas it affects, at that place are a greatnumber of possible symptoms. These symptoms can fool the most experiencedphysician into thinking that it is a psychological disease. The most commonsymptoms are bouts of overwhelming fatigue, loss of coordination, muscleweakness, numbness, slurred speech, and visual difficulties. These symptoms mayoccur for a number of years before one is actually diagnosed, and these symptoms