Multiple_Sclerosis

Multiple Sclerosis Multiple Sclerosis is one of the most common diseases of the central nervous system affecting both young and old. MS is a chronic disease of the white matter of the central nervous system. More than 400,000 people in North America are affected. The disease usually starts between the ages of 20 and 40 years with an average age of around 30. MS tends to affect more women than men. In people with MS, there are three processes going on that normally do not occur in healthy people. First, tiny patches of inflammation occur in the brain and spinal cord. Second, the protective myelin coating around the nerve fibers starts to deteriorate. Third, the nerve fibers themselves, called axons, may actually be damaged or destroyed. These processes are never the same in any two people, and when they occur, how quickly, and to what extent can vary a great deal. The nervous system is nourished by blood vessels that carry oxygen and nutrients throughout the white matter. In MS, errant T cells, key components of the body’s immune system, somehow leak out of the blood vessels and cause swelling and damage in the surrounding white tissue. For reasons ms, people, system, disease, inflammation, symptoms, occur, nervous, white, over, form, relapses, progressive, nerve, myelin, matter, immune, extent, recovery, problems, likely, known, injury, fibers, damage, common, central, called, both, become, axonal, about, years, type, starts