They can use an MRI to check for lesions or scarring. This test allows them to distinguish between old and recently formed lesions. Lesions on your brain can also signify other conditions, particularly in older adults. If you have MS, damage to the myelin sheath on your optic nerve will slow the transmission of signals along the nerve.
Your doctor can use a visual evoked potential VEP test to detect these changes. During a VEP test, your doctor will attach wires to your scalp to assess your brain activity. A spinal fluid analysis test is also known as a lumbar puncture.
Your doctor can use it to collect a sample of your cerebrospinal fluid CSF for testing. They may also indicate another condition. Your doctor may order blood tests to help confirm or rule out other conditions that might be responsible for your symptoms. These can include infections of the central nervous system, inflammatory diseases, genetic disorders, nutrient deficiencies, and structural damage to the spine or brain. New tests are being developed every day to help make diagnosing MS easier, and to ease symptoms after diagnosis.
Arriving at a diagnosis of MS takes time and persistence. These medications can help reduce MS attacks, lower the number of new lesions you develop, slow the progression of the disease, and improve your quality of life. Your doctor may also recommend physical therapy, occupational therapy, lifestyle changes, or other treatments.
No two people experience the same symptoms, progression, or…. Rania was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at At first, she kept quiet about her diagnosis as she navigated her new way of living. Now, she…. Symptoms may be temporary or permanent and may worsen over time. Life expectancy has increased over time.
We believe this is due to treatment breakthroughs, improved healthcare and lifestyle changes. Research indicates that the average life expectancy of people with MS is about seven years less than the general population because of disease complications or other medical conditions. Many of these complications are preventable or manageable.
Attention to overall health and wellness can help reduce the risk of other medical conditions, such as heart disease and stroke, that can contribute to a shortened life expectancy.
In very rare instances, MS can progress rapidly from disease onset and can be fatal. Not yet. There are now FDA-approved medications that have been shown to "modify" the course of MS by limiting new areas of damage in the CNS, reducing the number of relapses and delaying progression of disability. In addition, many therapeutic and technological advances are helping with more effective symptom management. Advances in treating and understanding MS are made every year, hopefully moving research closer to identifying a cure.
The treatment you need will depend on the specific symptoms and difficulties you have. Disease-modifying therapies may also help to slow or reduce the overall worsening of disability in people with a type of MS called relapsing remitting MS, and in those with a type called secondary progressive MS who have relapses.
Unfortunately, there's currently no treatment that can slow the progress of a type of MS called primary progressive MS, or secondary progressive MS in the absence of relapses. Many therapies aiming to treat progressive MS are currently being researched. If you have been diagnosed with MS, it's important to take care of your general health. Read more advice about living with MS. MS can be a challenging condition to live with, but new treatments over the past 20 years have considerably improved the quality of life of people with the condition.
MS itself is rarely fatal, but complications may arise from severe MS, such as chest or bladder infections, or swallowing difficulties. The average life expectancy for people with MS is around 5 to 10 years lower than average, and this gap appears to be getting smaller all the time. These organisations offer useful advice, publications, news items about ongoing research, blogs and chatrooms.
They can be very useful if you, or someone you know, has just been diagnosed with MS. There's also the shift. Clinical presentation, course, and prognosis of multiple sclerosis in adults. Wingerchuk DM expert opinion. Ciccarelli O. Multiple sclerosis in New therapies and biomarkers.
The Lancet. Keegan BM. Therapeutic decision making in a new drug era in multiple sclerosis. Seminars in Neurology. Goldman L, et al. Multiple sclerosis and demyelinating conditions of the central nervous system.
In: Goldman-Cecil Medicine. Lotze TE. Pathogenesis, clinical features, and diagnosis of pediatric multiple sclerosis. Kantarci OH, et al.
Novel immunomodulatory approaches for the management of multiple sclerosis. Disease-modifying treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis in adults. Olek MJ, et al. Treatment of acute exacerbations of multiple sclerosis in adults. Wingerchuk DM.
Multiple sclerosis: Current and emerging disease-modifying therapies and treatment strategies. Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Pizzorno JE, et al. In: Textbook of Natural Medicine. Louis, Mo. Evaluation and diagnosis of multiple sclerosis in adults.
Gaetani L, et al. Journal of Neurology. Pathogenesis and epidemiology of multiple sclerosis. Symptom management of multiple sclerosis in adults.
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