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What is Multiple Sclerosis?

© Pamela Martin

Lying in bed, I am aware of the oddest sensation of fresh plump worms teeming in haphazard patterns under my flesh. When I rise, I feel the familiar electric bolt of pain race down my spine. My leg muscles stiffen--then loosen--involuntarily lurching me into a drunken, partner-less dance. Even after 5 years of this ritual, I'm still benignly fascinated by the corpse-like fatigue that persists through 10 hours of sleep. This is how my morning begins each day. This is my life with Multiple Sclerosis.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a neurological disease characterized by multiple areas of damage and scarring (sclerosis) to the nerve fibers of the brain and spinal cord. Although research has brought us closer to understanding the disease process, its cause is not yet fully known, nor is there a cure. What we do know is that MS is not a contagious disease, nor is it considered genetic, although some recent studies suggest a familial predisposition. MS affects an estimated 350,000 to 500,000 Americans, with women nearly twice as likely to contract the disease as men. On average, the age of onset is between 20 to 40 years old, and geographically, the disease occurs more frequently in northern climes. Scientific evidence strongly suggests that MS is an autoimmune disorder in which the body's immune system ravages its own cells. In MS, the nerve cells are under siege and the resultant fallout affects the entire body. Here's how it works.

Our nervous system is a "live wire;" a profoundly intricate network that sends signals from our brain to other parts of our body. There is a protective coating of myelin around the nerve fiber, which acts as insulation in the same way that rubber protects the wiring on a lamp cord. In MS, the body's immune system mistakenly attacks the myelin, eating away at the protective insulation. Because of the damage to the insulation, the "live wire" of our nervous system can become short-circuited in the same way a damaged cord can cause a lamp to malfunction. Depending on the extent of the damage, persons with MS can experience symptoms ranging from mild to very severe. This short-circuiting of the nervous system is the basic nature of MS, and can cause a myriad of difficulties affecting vision, motor skills, speech, balance, and bladder control, to name a few.

To better illustrate this disease process, let's pretend that I've just run a mile (ha!) and I'm terribly thirsty and want a drink of water. My brain sends the signal to my hand to reach for the glass, which I then raise to my mouth. No problem. In most people, this message travels without incident along the nervous system, and all the essential muscles in the hand and arm easily coordinate to allow the glass to be lifted and the thirst quenched. But in a person with MS, the message can get jumbled and disconnected along the route to its destination. The brain tells the hand to pick up the glass, but the entire message doesn't get through to the other end. Why? Because the areas in which the myelin is damaged are short-circuited. The result? An uncoordinated movement; a sudden hand tremor; a spilled glass of water.

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