What is MS?
MS is a short term given to a debilitating disease called multiple sclerosis. This disease is very unpredictable and can actually range from benign to something that was highly devastating. This is so because the communication pattern that normally occurs between the brain and the rest of the body is greatly damaged.
According to scientific research, MS is an autoimmune disease. This means that the body’s immune system launches an attack against its very own underlying tissues and cells. In multiple sclerosis, the part that is most affected is the myelin.
The myelin
The myelin is a sheath that covers the nerve fibers in order to protect it. Aside from protection, it also acts as an insulator. It is the myelin that is directly attacked in a case of MS.
Many have released reports saying that assaults to the myelin are triggered by environmental factors like a kind of bacteria or virus.
About its onset
Most of those who complain with multiple sclerosis belong to the age group between twenty and forty years old. They initially complain of double vision, blurred vision, blindness in one eye or both, and also a color distortion between the reds and the greens. Aside from visual disturbances, there are also muscular disturbances such as muscle weakness in the person’s extremities, accompanied by difficulty in balance and coordination.
The muscular symptoms associated with multiple sclerosis may vary in severity. For instance, some cases could be severe which often render the person have a permanently impaired walking. In fact, some are even unfortunate to even have their balance by just standing impaired.
In a worst case of MS, the person is left with either partial or complete paralysis that is accompanied with paresthesia. This accompanying symptom is basically the abnormal feelings of sensation usually along the extremities. The extremities would feel numb and prickling like as if a there are a thousand pins and needles.
In other cases of multiple sclerosis, those who are with complaint experience pain. And pain is a subjective matter. Therefore, if they say it is painful, then it must be truly painful.
People with multiple sclerosis also experience speech impairments, dizziness and tremors. The recently mentioned symptoms are the ones they usually complain of. Occasionally, these symptoms are accompanied with hearing loss and impairments with the person’s cognition. With this kind of problem, the person will definitely have a hard time with concentration, memory, judgment and attention.
Treatment for MS
As of now, there still has been no discovery for an effective cure for multiple sclerosis. Research has been continuous and the findings have remained very consistent. However, no cure still has been established.
Some people actually prefer not to take any MS therapy, since several of the medications for multiple sclerosis have some serious side effects which pose high risks. An example of such medication is the Beta Interferon.
There are three famous brands of the aforementioned drug, namely, Rebif, Avonex and Betaseron. These three drugs have already been approved by the FDA or the Food and Drug Administration with regards to the use of those with the relapsing – remitting type of multiple sclerosis.
There are some researches that say that female teenagers who happen to be obese have a higher risk of developing multiple sclerosis as compared to those who are not obese. The research had two hundred thirty-eight thousand and three hundred seventy-one female respondents who ranged from twenty-five up to fifty-five years of age. They filled out a questionnaire regarding their corresponding behavior towards their health every couple of years. In over forty years, five hundred ninety-three of these respondents developed multiple sclerosis.
The respondents
The respondents reported their exact weight and height at the age of eighteen. The research scientists then computed for their BMI or their body mass index. They were also told to choose from nine different kinds of silhouettes, from extremely thin up to extremely obese, in order to have a general description of their body size at five, ten and even twenty years old.
The findings
It was through this study that it was concluded that females who had a BMI of thirty or more at eighteen years old had more than two times of a risk for developing a case of multiple sclerosis, as compared to those who had a BMI of nineteen to twenty. Those who had a BMI of twenty-five up to twenty-nine were already considered as overweight while those who were obese had a BMI of thirty kilograms per squared meter.
For those who had a bigger body even though they were just twenty years old represented the purpose of having to use the silhouettes as tools in the study. Aside from that, they were also the ones who represented those who had a lot of risk for having MS. However, for those girls who were very large at five or ten years old is not at all related to the risk of multiple sclerosis development.
Famous professor from the Harvard School of Public Health Kassandra Munger, ScD have stated that the results of the study indicate that weight pays such an important role in the development of MS in adolescence, as compared to that of childhood and adulthood. This means that teenagers have to be taught about preventing the onset of obesity from the very start to reduce the risk of having multiple sclerosis later.
The conclusions
Professor Munger states that there are two most likely statements that could explain why obesity pays a very important role with regards to risk of having multiple sclerosis. According to what she has found out in scientific and medical research, the high levels of Vitamin D inside the body greatly reduce the risk. But obese people have very low levels of Vitamin D.
Another possible explanation is that adipose tissue gives out material that can greatly affect the immune system and some types of cellular activity that are thought to be associated with multiple sclerosis.
The MS diet
Many forms of diet claim that they can reduce obesity, which, in turn, has a big possibility of precipitating the disease. Nutrition is a good way of preventing or avoiding the development of multiple sclerosis.
For instance, many of those who have MS have testified that eating food rich in gluten makes them feel terrible. Although, there are still no scientific findings to back this up, many depend on these testimonies.
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