Interferons & Copaxone

What is Multiple Scierosis?

Multiple Scierosis (MS) is an illness diagnosed in over 350,000 person in the United States today. There is still much to be learned about  multiple scierosis. MS typically has more than one (multiple) area of inflammation and scarring of the myelin in the brain and spinal cord. Myelin is the tissue that covers and protects our nerve fibers.

When this occurs, nerve communication is disrupted. An individual with MS experience various degrees of neurological impairment depending on the location and extent of the scarring. Although there is no known cure for MS at this time, there is much that can be done to improving quality of life.

I have come to understand and learned that  when there is a diagnose of multiple scierosis that it takes number of factor's into consideration. You physician, usually a neurologist, will take your medical history. I also understand that he or ahe with look for changes in your strength, reflexes, and response to your touch sounds, and other senses. Also your doctor may order some tests such as a MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, a special way to take highly detailed images of your brain and spinal cord, to find out if you have the lesions tyical of MS.

Usually your health care provider will use several tests to help diagnose multiply scierosis, as there no single test that can provide a positive diagnosis. When diagnosing relapsing-remitting mullyiple scierosis (RRMS), health care providers will look at a combination of things which may include:

  1. The number of flare ups or attacks you have over a period of time.

   2. The number and types of lesions that can be seen on your MRI.

   3. Whether you experience a combination of flare-ups and lesions.

   4. Postitive CSF ( cerebrospinal fluid) test results. This test looks for certain levels of immune system proteins and the presence of oligoclonal bands in your cerebrospinal fluid.

   5. Results from an "Evoked potential", test. This a type of test checks your nervous system's response for vision, hearing, and general sensory levels.