The benign type
Multiple sclerosis has a benign type which means that the disease has a slight severity and course. However, calling a case of MS or multiple sclerosis benign is very much misleading because overtime, this disease becomes as disabling as it could get. In fact, in the twenty percent who are given an initial diagnosis of benign MS, only five percent end up actually having the benign type.
The person with the benign type of MS can expect minor or no progression at all after the first attack. Their functions are retained except for short term memory disturbances, cognitive dysfunction and some clear evidence of spinal cord or brain atrophy, which can all be identified via an MRI scan.
The relapsing – remitting type
This type of MS, the relapsing – remitting type, is actually the most common among all of the types of this particular disease. But its name, relapsing – remitting can be also very misleading.
It is during this type that those who have MS experience attacks, otherwise called as exacerbations that are followed with either a complete or a partial remission. This is the part that its classification is misleading.
Multiple sclerotic people oftentimes assume that this remission phase means they have fully recovered. This can be true in some special cases, especially during the first phases of the disorder, but in most cases, this remission is actually just a partial one. Do not be misled by this classification’s name because what are usually left are permanent residual MS-related symptoms.
The secondary – progressive type
This type starts with the relapsing – remitting type which usually persists for several years. After that timeframe, it is time for the secondary – progressive type to show what it is made of.
It is a chronic and progressive form of the disease that usually occurs in the disease’s second stages. Unlike the relapsing – remitting type, there are no true periods of remission, but only some breaks in the duration of attacks that has absolutely no recovery from the symptoms. Although there could be some minor relief for a couple of symptoms, recovery is never attained.
The primary – progressive type
This type is very common in the male population. It is when the person with MS gradually experiences a clinical decline and has no true durations of remission. However, there could be a temporary time where the disorder seems to plateau or level out, including a partial but minor relief from a few symptoms. But still, the whole course of this type continuously declines starting from the disease’s outset.
The progressive – relapsing type
This type is a rare form of MS. What happens here is that the disease has a progressive form that starts from its outset with a series of acute attacks that has no relief from the obtained symptoms. Unlike the primary – progressive type, this type has no tendency to plateau.
The malignant type
Aside from being called malignant, this type is also referred to as Marburg variant. It has an aggressive phase. It is a fortunate thing that this type is a very rare type because it is very aggressive. It has a quick and relentless decline to a very significant impairment, or even death. This type usually occurs after several weeks of the onset of the first attack.
The chronic – progressive
This type is indefinite of MS. However, this term is also associated with a collective diagnosis of progressive – relapsing, primary – progressive and secondary – progressive.
Up to now, multiple sclerosis is still idiopathic. This means that, although research for its cause is currently and continuously being done, its definite cause still has not been discovered. However, a variety of probable causes has been found. It is through these probable causes that the medical diagnosis of multiple sclerosis can be established.
For starters, there is always the hereditary factor. The hereditary factor is present in almost all of the diseases. For instance, if a great great grandmother had multiple sclerosis, then there is a big chance that her descendants might have the disease as well.
Aside from heredity, the environment, according to researchers, also affects the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis. An antigen or allergen commonly found in the environment could trigger a response from the body that later on leads to an immunocompromised system.
Multiple Sclerosis being an autoimmune disease
Research has it that multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease which means that the body’s personal immune system attacks its own cells. For reasons that are still unknown, the body’s immune cells show aggression towards and obliterate the myelin sheath that covers the neurons like an insulator inside the brain and the spinal cord.
This myelin sheath is responsible for the transmission and the prevention of unnecessary electrical activity that short circuits one cell from another cell. Once communication between the brain and the other parts of the body is disrupted, the transmission of sensations and control messages are not anymore normal. This pathophysiology is that of multiple sclerosis.
Plaques in multiple sclerosis
The progression of the disease’s symptoms is correlated with the development of new plaques within the parts of the brain that simultaneously control the affected areas. These plaques are developed from the demyelinated areas, which are basically the tiny round areas of gray neuron that no longer has a white myelin covering.
What makes multiple sclerosis more complicated is that, the pattern of the appearance of the plaques has absolutely no pattern. This makes multiple sclerosis completely unpredictable.
Inflammation of the myelin sheath
Normal cells are covered by a sheath that acts as an insulator. This sheath is made up of adipose substances that are called myelin. Myelin is very helpful in the correct and appropriate transmission of nerve impulses. Once this sheath is damaged from too much inflammation, multiple sclerosis occurs.
WBC action
T cells, which are special subsets of white blood cells, are important in the development of multiple sclerosis. Normally, the T cells are able distinguish between self and non-self. However, with multiple sclerosis, the T cells become weak when it comes to recognizing and differentiating self and non-self. In fact, in most multiple sclerosis cases, these lymphocytes recognize the healthy cells of the central nervous system as foreign and harmful and attack.
There is a BBB or a blood-brain barrier that serves as a tight barrier between the blood and the brain. This barrier is made up of endothelial cells that completely line the walls of the blood vessels. Since the auto-reactive T cells start attacking healthy cells and trigger an inflammatory process, they tend to cross the BBB, when they are not at all supposed to. This breaks down the BBB, thus, leading to multiple sclerosis.
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