Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an unpredictable nervous system disease, which disrupts the communication between the brain and other parts of the body. It can affect both your mind and the rest of your body.
Many doctors believe MS is an auto-immune disease, in which the body’s immune system attacks its own tissues. If you have MS, the myelin sheath, which protects the nerve cells, is attacked by your immune system. This means messages sent by your brain cannot reach their destination.
Many people who have MS can have sudden relapses in which their symptoms become worse, and then they can recover almost completely. For others these flare-ups mean a gradual worsening of their condition.
Some people who have MS are not severely affected, but others can eventually struggle severely with basic physical functions such as walking, standing and talking as the disease progresses.
What are the symptoms?
- A feeling of numbness in the hands and/or feet
- Fatigue
- Visual disturbances, which can include blurred or double vision, red/green colour distortion
- Difficulty with balance and co-ordination, and also sometimes standing or walking. In severe cases people with MS can become paralysed
- People with MS can also sometimes have speech problems, concentration difficulties and difficulties with judgment
- Some people develop loss of bowel or bladder control
Who is at risk of getting it?
More than twice the number of women than men get MS. It also seems to be passed on genetically in families. Anyone can develop MS, but it mostly hits people between the ages of 20 and 40. European/Caucasian people are more likely to get it than people of other races. People who already have an auto-immune disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis, have a slightly higher risk for MS than those who don’t.
What can you do to prevent it?
As no-one is completely sure what causes MS, it is very difficult to make any recommendations about what you can do to prevent the disease. If you have been diagnosed with it, as with all diseases, it is important to stick to the treatment that your doctor prescribes. It is in everybody’s interest to look after their health as best they can, whether they are ill, or not.
How is it treated?
There is no cure for MS yet, but many medicines can help to control the symptoms mentioned above, and to slow down the progression of the disease. Occupational therapy and physical therapy are often part of the treatment as well.
During flare-ups steroids are often given to reduce the severity of the attack.
In South Africa, MS is one of the conditions for which all medical scheme members have to receive treatment. This is called a prescribed minimum benefit (PMB). State hospitals will also treat the condition.
How to manage MS
A healthy lifestyle will make a big difference to someone who is living with MS. The tips below come from familydoctor.org:
- Eat a nutritious and well-balanced diet with lots of fibre and not too much fat.
- Exercise will help to improve your muscle tone and strength, your balance and your co-ordination.
- Get enough rest, as MS can cause you to feel fatigued.
- Avoid hot baths, showers and saunas, as too much heat can lead to extreme muscle weakness in some people with MS.
- Get support from friends, family and health professionals and make sure you continue doing the things you enjoy. See if there is a support group that you can join.
12 tips to make life easier
The following tips on making life easier for people with MS and their caregivers, were provided by the Multiple Sclerosis Society of South Africa.
Ask for help when you need it - it is a sign of strength, not weakness.
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- Use technology. Get remote controls to open and close doors, switch lights off and on, use cordless phones, cell phones, speaker phones, answering machines.
- Use rubberised cloth as a place mat to put underneath your crockery to prevent it sliding around.
- Place two tight rubber bands a centimetre or so apart around a drinking glass, it will make it easier to grasp and hold onto.
- Put a bar of soap in the foot part of pantyhose, knot the pantyhose around the tap, your soap will now be easy to reach without slipping out of your hands and the hose can double as cloth.
- Put a metal basket in the shower to hold soap and shampoo. In that way everything will be at hand.
- If you use a rubber mat, remember to put it into the washing machine regularly to prevent slippery soapy build up.
- Turntables in cupboards will make items easy to retrieve.
- Use Velcro to replace buttons or other fasteners – close the existing button holes and work the button on top of this space.
- Rub the soles of new shoes with sandpaper or scrape the soles on uneven surfaces to prevent slipping.
- Arrange your home to suit your own physical needs. Furniture placed in strategic locations can be helpful to lean on as you move from room to room.
Contact: Multiple Sclerosis Society South Africa
Contact person: Non Smit
Website:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/MultipleSclerosisSA
Tel: 021-9484160
