I read today that the Harry Potter author J K Rowling is to give £10 million pounds to fund research into multiple sclerosis, a disease that killed her mother. This is the type of disease that frightens all of us, the thought that we might slowly loose the use of our bodies, so hats off to her for her generosity, which has got to help with the study of this condition.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disorder of the brain and spinal cord. It can cause a variety of symptoms. In most cases, episodes of symptoms are intermittent initially but over time, some symptoms usually become permanent, and will usually cause disability. There is no treatment that cures MS, but various medicines and therapies may reduce the number of 'flare-ups' and can help to ease symptoms and disability.

This is certainly a cruel disease and had to understand! I think it goes like this. Thousands of nerve fibres send tiny electrical impulses between different parts of the brain and spinal cord. Every nerve fibre in the brain and spinal cord is surrounded by a protective sheath made from a substance called myelin. The myelin sheath acts in the same way as the insulation around an electrical wire, and is essential so that the electrical impulses can travel correctly along the nerve fibres.

Nerves themselves are made up from many nerve fibres. Those nerves come out of the brain and the spinal cord and their job is to take messages to and from muscles, the skin, body organs, and tissues.

MS is thought to be an auto-immune disease. This actually means, in lay-mens terms that chemicals and cells of the immune system, which normally attack bacteria, viruses, etc, instead begin to attack part of the body. When the disease is active, parts of the immune system, attack the myelin sheath which surrounds the nerve fibres in the brain and spinal cord leading to small patches of inflammation.

It is thought that something might prompt or trigger the immune system to act in this way. One theory is that a virus, or another environmental factor might trigger the immune system in some people who have a certain genetic make-up.

The inflammation that sets up around the myelin sheath impairs the function of nerve fibres and that is when symptoms develop. When the inflammation clears, the myelin sheath can heal and repair, and the nerve fibres start to work again. However, the inflammation, or with repeated bouts of inflammation, small scars called 'scleroses' that can permanently damage nerve fibres. In a typical person with MS, many small areas of this sclerosis (scarring) develop in the brain and spinal cord and that is why a persons movement and function can be affected.

Yes, the frightening thing is that most of us know someone who has this disease, it is far from uncommon! I was Reading the other day that nearly 9 in 10 people with MS have the common relapsing-remitting form of the disease. A relapse is when an episode of symptoms occurs. During a relapse, symptoms develop and may last for days, but more often will last 2-6 weeks. and can even sometimes last several months. Symptoms then ease off or go away completely). Remission describes the time when symptoms have eased or gone away. Further relapses will then occur randomly from time to time.

The type and number of symptoms that occur during a relapse vary from person to person, depending on where the myelin damage is. The frequency of the relapses also varies. One or two relapses every two years is fairly typical but they can occur more or less often than this. In a relapse previous symptoms may return, or new ones may appear.

This pattern tends to last for several years. At first, full recovery from symptoms, or near full recovery, is typical following each relapse but in time, in addition to myelin damage, there may also be damage to the nerve fibres themselves.

Eventually, after 5-15 years, some symptoms will usually become permanent. The permanent symptoms are due to the build up of scar tissue in the brain and to the nerve damage that occurs. The condition typically will slowly become worse over time. This is called secondary progressive MS. Typically, around two thirds of people with relapsing-remitting MS will have developed secondary progressive MS after 15 years from their first diagnosis. Itr is a really scary thought!

I think that to break it down simply there are two types of MS
Relapsing-remitting form of MS or the primary progressive form of MS

It is the case that in about 1 in 10 cases, there is no initial relapsing-remitting course. The symptoms arrive and then become gradually worse from the outset, and do not recover into any form of remission. This is called 'primary progressive MS'.

On the other hand in Benign MS the experience of less than 1 in 10 patients is that they experience only a few relapses in a lifetime, and no symptoms remain permanently. This is the least serious form of the disease, and is called 'benign MS'.

I often wondered who were the most likely people to get multiple sclerosis?
It seems that about 1 in 1000 people in the UK develop MS. It can affect anyone at any age, although it is rare to affect anyone under the age of 10. It most commonly first develops between the ages of 20 and 40. MS is the most commonly experienced disabling illness of young adults in the UK and is twice as common in women as in men.

From what I have read, MS is not strictly an hereditary disease. However, there is an increased chance of MS developing in close relatives of affected people. For example, a mother, father, brother, or sister of a person with MS has about a 1 in 100 chance of developing MS (compared to about a 1 in 1000 chance in the general population).


The following are the symptoms during a relapse and will largely depend on which part, or parts, of the brain or spinal cord are affected. You may have just one symptom in one part of the body, or several symptoms in different parts of your body. The symptoms occur because the affected nerve fibres stop working properly. The more common symptoms include:

A numbness or tingling in parts of the skin. This is the most common symptom of a first relapse.

Weakness or paralysis of some muscles. Mobility may be affected.
Partial loss, or blurring of vision. Double vision.
Problems with balance and co-ordination.
Tremors or spasms of some muscles.
Dizziness.
Problems with passing urine.
Inability to have an erection in men.
Difficulty with speech.
Tiredness, and psychological symptoms such as mood swings and depression, are also common in people with MS.

The secondary symptoms can develop later in the course of the illness when some of the above symptoms become permanent. They include: contractures, urine infections, osteoporosis (thinning of bones), muscle wasting, and lack of mobility.