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Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple Sclerosis is a disease that my cousin was recently diagnosed with. I have heard of the disease before and even took care of a woman in an Assisted Living home who had the disease. I however did not know that this disease was an autoimmune disease. In efforts to better understand the disease and to support my cousin I decided that this paper would be the perfect starting point to understand this autoimmune disease better.

1. Magill’s Medical Guide found in the KU Library gave a detailed overview of multiple sclerosis. From definition, causes, symptoms, and treatments this article was full of information. One bit of information that I learned is that there are patterns to MS; its not a disease that is active everyday but rather waves of activation and deactivation. “The typical pattern of MS is marked by active periods of the disease during which the nerves are being ravaged by the immune system. These periods are called attacks, relapses, or exacerbations (Zawada, W. P., & Campanella, J. P. (2014).).”

2. Medline Plus Multiple Sclerosis is another informative overview. This overview differed from the previous giving gender specific data of the occurrence of the disease and what is affected differently between male and females. Females have a higher occurrence of the disease then men.

3. National Multiple Sclerosis Society had a great amount of information. There is still a lot of research that needs to be conducted on MS. Some of the previous theories of the cause of MS were contribute to living with pets, allergies, heavy metals, and aspartame food and drink products. All of these theories have been disproven but it is interesting how much research is put into disproving them.

Questions:

What are the symptoms of this disease and how is it diagnosed?

Is there a genetic predisposition?

What immune components are involved in the disease?

What treatments are available?

What is the long-term outcome of this...