What is Multiple Sclerosis?
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a neurological condition affecting the myelin sheath. Myelin is the fatty coating covering nerve cells in the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord).
Myelin surrounds nerve fibres and conveys electrical messages going to and from the brain and spinal cord.
MS causes inflammation and damage to the myelin sheath which distorts and slows down the electrical messages and in turn causes MS symptoms. The areas of inflammation on the myelin are called 'lesions', 'sclerosis' or 'plaques'.
The most common form of MS is the Relapsing Remitting variety where episodes often called 'relapses' or 'attacks' of symptoms are noticed. The symptoms often peak then recover. If damage to the underlying axon of a nerve cell occurs some symptoms will not completely resolve and disability can accumulate.
Other sorts of MS are:
Secondary Progressive MS - which occurs in a percentage of people with relapsing remitting MS after a period of 15-20yrs
Primary Progressive MS - which is predominantly characterised by lesions in the spinal cord which controls the lower limbs.
MS affects women 4:1 more than men and occurs generally between the ages of 20 - 45 although this is not always the case.
For further information on how MS is diagnosed, symptom management and diet/lifestyle please see the attached information booklets.
Your MS symptoms will never be exactly the same as another person's MS symptoms. It is very important not to compare yourself to other people you may know with MS.
If you are experiencing symptoms that are worrying you and/or are altering your daily life and routine please contact or self refer to the MS Nursing service to discuss.
Our role is to provide you and your family with a named contact person who you can ask questions of and report new, recurring, suspected symptoms to. We use expert telephone triage skills to assess your symptoms and, should the situation indicate, we will arrange for urgent reviews with your neurologist. Please read the MS Nursing Service information sheet below for further details about what our service can offer you.
We would recommend you make contact with the Auckland MS Society www.msakl.org.nz (09) 845 5921 to gain access to an MS fieldworker in your local area and to learn more about the range of community based services they can offer you.
Useful and reliable websites for further information regarding MS are: