Symptoms of ms

Multiple sclerosis or MS is also known by two names: encephalomyelitis disseminate or disseminated sclerosis. This is an autoimmune condition wherein the patient’s immune system targets the central nervous system and eventually tries to destroy it. This could lead to demyelination which could eventually cause various mental and physical symptoms. As the disease progresses, it would lead to cognitive disabilities.

This illness has so many symptoms and these usually appear between the ages of 20 to 40. Its onset could be so mild that no one would even notice that the disease is there but the development could be so sudden that the patient and his family is caught off guard.

The earliest signs of MS include:

• Numbness
• Tingling sensations
• Loss of balance
• Limb weakness (which could be felt in just one or both limbs)
• Double or blurred vision

The less common symptoms of multiple sclerosis include:

• Speech slurs
• Lack of coordination
• The sudden paralysis onset
• Cognitive intricacies

The rarest symptoms of multiple sclerosis include:

• Seizures that could occur anytime.
• Breathing problems

Once the disease makes its progress, more and more symptoms add up to the growing pile such as:

• Sensitivity to light or heat
• Extreme physical fatigue (which may be present on mid-afternoons and could also include mental fatigue).
• Muscle spasm which is a debilitating sign of the illness. When this muscle spasm progresses, most patients would become paralyzed or would have much difficulty in walking (gait disturbance).
• Vertigo or being light-headed and having no sense of coordination
• Sometimes, the patients experience impaired thinking. About half of the cases of people with this illness suffer from this symptom. About 10% of this number could get so serious that they are not able to carry out the normal tasks of day to day living.
• Speech problems (even swallowing problems in some cases).
• Abnormal sensations on the body such as extreme itchiness, tearing pains, burning, even stabbing.