Multiple Sclerosis Essay

Multiple Sclerosis is often known as the “great crippler of young adults.” It causes various forms of sensory and motor skill problems as the disease progresses. MS affects a wide variety of people in any age group. MS is a long-term condition. Relapses are common and can last for up to 24 hours and several factors have been identified. There is no known cause for Multiple Sclerosis, but that does not stop scientist from trying to figure one out.
Multiple Sclerosis is a “chronic inflammatory, demyelinating disease of the central nervous system” (Susan B. O’Sullivan, Physical Rehabilitation, p. 776). Multiple Sclerosis is a “disease where your body attacks itself, specifically the fatty coating called the myelin sheath on nerves in the brain, spinal cord, and eye area” (2016 EMD Serono,
O’Sullivan, Physical Rehabilitation, p. 776). The onset of Multiple Sclerosis affects a wide variety of people. It can affect people as young as fifteen and as old as fifty years of age. According to the book Physical Rehabilitation on page 776, Multiple Sclerosis “affects approximately 400,000 people is the United States. The disease is more common in women than in men by a ratio of 2:1” (Susan B. O’Sullivan, Physical Rehabilitation, p. 776). Multiple Sclerosis mainly affects white populations and African Americans. There is no known cause for Multiple Sclerosis but there have been a few theories. Some scientist think that Multiple Sclerosis “may be triggered by an infection- probably a virus. It is thought that this trigger may activate the production of T cells, which are a type of white blood cell. Once activated, the T cells start to multiply and cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to the brain and spinal cord. The T cells are thought to then begin a process that attacks and damages nerve cells in the central nervous system” (2016 EMD Serono, Inc, MS