Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an illness diagnosed in over 350,000 persons in the United States (National Multiple Sclerosis Society, 2000). The number is probably not accurate, because some persons go for years with symptoms of the disease, but not a confirmed diagnosis. .
The first description of what is believed to be MS dates back to 1421 when the Count of Holland, Jan Van Bieren described the "strange disease of the virgin Lidwina,"" who developed severe pain in the face and weakness in the legs after falling while ice skating. Within a few years, she could not even walk and was blind in one eye. (O'Connor, 1998).
The first scientific evidence that Multiple Sclerosis was a disease came through Jean-Martin Charcot's study of a maid employed in his house. He called the disease la sclerose en plaques, which is Multiple Sclerosis. Charcot worked at an asylum for beggars, the aged, the infirmed, and the insane where he studied thousands of cases of MS (Benz,1993). He was able see the disease related anatomical changes at autopsy. After his description, the disease became more widely recognized and opened up the neurological branch of medicine.
Multiple Sclerosis affects a body system that is responsible for making us think, feel, and be normal human beings. This system is the Central Nervous System (CNS). The CNS is made up of the brain and the spinal cord. Different parts of the CNS control different body functions, therefore, damage to a certain part of the CNS will result in loss of particular functions. MS is the most common disabling disease of the CNS in persons between twenty and forty (Sibley, 1996).
Multiple Sclerosis 4.
Myelin is a fatty protein that is crucial in transmitting messages along the axons. Myelin is damaged in MS. This is known as demyelination and it causes the symptoms of MS. The process disallows messages from the brain to various parts of the body; or causes a short circuit of the process, where mixed messages are received.
