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You may be familiar with the idea thatmultiple sclerosis(M.S.)
Multiple sclerosis symptoms can affect your balance and ability to walk.
damages the nerves in the spinal cord and brain, but you may not know the early M.S.
symptoms that can help you identify the autoimmune disorder.
Oftentimes doctors begin to suspect M.S.
when you have multiple M.S.
symptoms or a single symptom that reoccurs.
Read on to learn more.
What is multiple sclerosis (M.S.)
|Causes of M.S.|Early signs of M.S.|General M.S.
hug|Walking difficulties|Balance problems|Bowel problems|Mental health|M.S.
diagnosis
What is multiple sclerosis (M.S.)?
Causes of M.S.
The exact causes of M.S.
are unknown, but there are some prominent theories and known risk factors for the disease.
symptoms vary by personand not everyone experiences all the potential symptoms of the diseaseDr.
Hutton says its difficult to pinpointearly signs of M.S.in any one person.
But, Dr. Moses says, most people with M.S.
and Related Disorders Program at the Perelman School of Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
General M.S.
symptoms
Again, M.S.
symptoms can vary by person.
have whats called primary-progressive M.S., in which their symptoms worsen without periods of remission.
There are some common symptoms people with M.S.
experience, regardless of the punch in of disease they have.
Keep in mind that specific M.S.
symptoms (and the severity of symptoms) vary by person, Dr. Hutton says.
eye symptoms
According to the Mayo Clinic,3M.S.
hug
You may have heard of an M.S.
symptom called the M.S.
hug, which feels like a squeezing sensation in the torso or the limbs, Dr. Moses says.
A small 2019 study published in the journalNeurology10analyzed 116 people who said theyve had the M.S.
hug and described it as a squeezing, bandlike or girdle-like sensation that can involve your abdomen and chest.
Walking difficulties
Commonly, people with M.S.
There can also be an issue with a sensory pathway, where someone cant feel where theyre walking.
you’ve got the option to have a gait disorder or balance problems.
For many of our patients, its all of the above.
These gait and balance issues can lead to falls.
In fact, roughly half of 52 people with M.S.
in a 2011Handbook of Clinical Neurology13study reported having fallen within the preceding six months.
Balance problems
As we mentioned, people with M.S.
may have ahard time with their balance.
symptoms can make it difficult to balance, like:
If M.S.
affects the balance center of your brainthe cerebellum14you can become unsteady on your feet, Dr. Lannen explains.
Bowel problems
Nearly two thirds of people with M.S.
Your GI tract communicates with nerves outside your brain and spinal cord that help your gastrointestinal system work properly.
Sexual dysfunction
M.S.
can affect several aspects of your sexual functioning.
Dr. Lannen says there are several possibilities for why this happens.
Mental health
Between 40% and 60% of people with M.S.
can even cause depression.
If you notice youre experiencingsigns of depression, Dr. Jacobs recommends talking to your doctor.
Remission is a state of no active M.S.
problems, Dr. Moses says.
Treatment may help you achieve remission.
There are some lucky few who dont decide to treat and have very infrequent relapses, Dr. Hutton says.
But more commonly, people are in remission because theyre on effective medication.
Treatments range but may include pharmaceuticals like disease-modifying therapies that slow M.S.
Keep in mind that your treatment options may change over time based on new research and newly available therapies.
verify you have ongoing conversations with your doctor about which treatment options may be best for you.
diagnosis
Of course, to get the right treatment for M.S., you need aproper diagnosis first.
That usually involves starting out with your general practitioner and eventually being referred to a neurologist.
But the Mayo Clinic3says there are tests that your doctor will typically order for you, including:
M.S.
is a lifelong condition, and that alone is a lot to think about.
