It is a known fact that amidst the Christmas gift-giving and delicious food, the holidays can oftentimes be fairly stressful. Aside from having to personally and actively participate in a number of festivities, it also a must to consistently behave in a festive attitude. Moreover, such event could be even more stressful for those who have multiple sclerosis. The disease’s symptoms and the holidays just do no jive.
In short, if having an active jovial personality for everyone to see during the holidays is not a usual thing, especially with a debilitating disorder, then expect a lot of stress. However, stress is a common accompaniment of the holidays. Christmas time is just not complete without it. There has to be a rush whenever it is time for Christmas shopping, falling in those long lines, having to wrestle items with someone else who claims he or she saw that thing first. The holidays are basically stressful.
This is why sometimes some people get offended because of a case of misunderstanding. And face it; no one wants to have an enemy or someone loathe you during Christmas season. So for those who have multiple sclerosis or MS and are usually left stressed out during the holidays, here is a list of what must be avoided to avoid getting overstressed.
Avoid crowds.
One of the worst symptoms associated with multiple sclerosis is the cognitive dysfunction. This means that communication is not an area a person with MS could excel in. They cannot easily keep up with a certain conversation regardless of who the conversation is with, but especially if there are more than two people who are conversing. With this said, it would be near to impossible to see people with MS randomly chatting with unfamiliar people because of the jovial atmosphere.
To avoid getting stressed out, at the same time still enjoy the company of other familiar people during Christmas season, people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis should just avoid attending parties if most of the attendants are unknown, and also finding corners within a room where a more quite and intimate conversation can be done.
Avoid unnecessary noise.
Another symptom with MS is the inability to keep a steady train of thought, especially if the noise is too much to take. This means any loud music, the TV playing at high volume or people shouting and cheering. These kinds of environment are the ones that the people with MS should be avoiding.
Think of the risk for infection.
Those with multiple sclerosis are not hypochondriacs, who, in turn, are people who are very paranoid about getting sick. But still, since the immune system is at its lowest, then the risk for infection is high.
Of course, they cannot be locked inside their own homes. Despite the fact that they have MS, they also still have a life to live. They also do not have to act like astronauts in wearing all that protective gear. What they have to avoid are febrile illnesses such as the flu. With today’s pandemic, the H1N1, people with MS have to be extra careful.
To avoid getting such life-threatening diseases, immunocompromised people with multiple sclerosis should make sure that they get the necessary vaccines ahead of time. Also, places that have sick people must be avoided. This does not only mean hospitals or clinics. This also means houses of family or friends who house a sick person like someone who caught the flu.
What is this scale?
The Kurtzke Expanded Disability Status Scale, otherwise known as the EDSS, is a famous way of quantifying how much is already disabled in a person with multiple sclerosis. This tool replaced the Disability Status Scales which did as much as grouping people with multiple sclerosis.
The Kurtzke EDSS enumerates the disabilities associated with MS or multiple sclerosis according to the established eight functional systems. This then allows many neurologists to allocate a specific functional system score in each. The functional systems are as follows: pyramidal, cerebellar, brainstem, sensory, bowel and bladder, visual, cerebral, and others.
The Kurtzke EDSS gives two distinctive classifications to two different types of damage due to multiple sclerosis, depending on the severity of the disease’s symptoms. For instance, grades 1.0 up to 4.5 mean people who have multiple sclerosis but are fully ambulatory. On the other hand, those who are graded 5.0 up to 9.5 are those who are impaired in their ambulation.
Its discovery
Dr. Kurtzke established this useful scale back in August of 1955. The scale he discovered was initially called the DSS, which evaluated the impairment associated with MS based on a ten-point scale. And then it was in 1983 that Dr. Kurtzke discovered the EDSS. This latest tool became more famous and much more useful because it could evaluate MS-related impairment in all of the main neurological areas.
Even though the EDSS is not so sensitive when it comes to assessing temporary changes in the person’s level of consciousness, this tool is immensely utilized for not just national but also international tests in evaluating just how effective a certain therapy can be.
The EDSS is predominantly built for assessing the person’s ambulation and not cognition, fatigue or the functioning of the upper extremities.
Its FS Scale
The FS scale or the functional systems scale is important to the EDSS since it assesses and evaluates the seven parts of the central nervous system which have the ability to control the normal functioning of the body. For instance, those who can function normally are graded 0 while those who are unable to finish the assignment are given the grade of 6.
The FS scale of the EDSS is important for those people with multiple sclerosis but can still ambulate since it evaluates where a certain person may have some disability or difficulty.
According to many research findings, the Kurtzke EDSS and a certain scale for the ADL's or activities of daily living have a symbiotic relationship towards one another. Together, these two scales are able to assess the amount of disability that occurs in multiple domains of functioning, all depending on the person’s subjective report of any of the symptoms of multiple sclerosis.
Although the EDSS is the standard way of finally assessing the amount of disability and impairment, it is still greatly criticized for the putting far too much focus on the use of the lower extremities or the legs and not much attention to the general clinical change.
What are used?
In evaluating the disease status, MRI scans are used by the physicians. However, such diagnostic test is not so correlational with the outcome of the disease, since in multiple sclerosis, majority of the lesions are not seen via the MRI scan. Some even do not have symptoms that can be clinically detected.
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