Multiple Sclerosis

Introduction

Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disorder which damages fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord. It is mostly common to the young female adults although it also seen in other individuals at any age. The study below is an analysis of Multiple sclerosis in reference to etiology, symptoms and pathophysiology.

Risk factors

The disorder is mostly cause by uncontrollable risk factors for example, genetic and environmental  but there are other controllable risk factors which are mostly vascular problems, infectious and some of the environmental factors. The genetic factor shows that the disease is hereditary although mostly generic validations are held responsible for the occurrence of the complications. The environmental factor refers to the nature of the surrounding in which the individual lives in. natural factors like sunlight are uncontrollable while others like environmental pollution with toxins and other solvents or tobacco smoke are controllable risks (Polman, Thompson & Murray, 2006).  

Etiology

The disorder results from damage of the myelin sheath which protects the nerve cells thus slowing or stopping their impulses. This damage may be caused by inflammation or attack of the nervous system by the immune cells of the body

Signs and symptoms

The signs and symptoms of the disease vary with the location and severity of the attack. These are affected by factors such as fever, sun exposure, hot baths and stress. the damage of the nerves in any part of the spinal or brain results to following symptoms: Muscle symptoms like loss of body balance, muscle spasms and others like numbness or abnormal sensation in any part of the body, Bowel and bladder symptoms like constipation and stool leakage, strong urge to urinate and urine leakage, Eye symptoms like double vision and vision loss, Numbness, tingling or facial pain. Other symptoms include decreased attention and difficult in reasoning and solving problems, sexual symptoms include problem in erections and vaginal lubrication (Holland, Murray & Reingold, 2007).

Diagnosis

The disorder may be difficult to diagnose since the signs and symptoms are similar to those of many other disorders. The health practitioners consider keen clinical analysis to diagnose or distinguish the disorder from the other related. The examinations which are considered include: a neurological exam to detect reduced nerve functions, eye examination may be done to show abnormal pupil functioning which are some of the symptoms of the disorder. Other tests to diagnose the disorder include nerve function study, MRI scan of the brain and spinal tap for the tests. 

Clinical data alone can be enough for effective diagnosis of the disease especially if the individual has suffered separate episodes of neurological symptoms. The most applicable diagnosis tools are neuroimaging, magnetic resonance imaging. Administration of Gadolinium and testing of the cerebrospinal fluid enables the professionals to get evidence of chronic inflammation of the nervous system (Carruthers, 2008).