Common Symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis

The symptomatic spectrum of multiple sclerosis can be very diverse, involving different manifestations according to the affected body regions. Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory neurological disease, causing dysfunctions mainly at the level of the central nervous system. Due to the fact that multiple sclerosis affects the nervous system, people with this form of neurological disease can in time experience symptoms in most innervated regions of the body.

An estimated number of over 2 million people worldwide suffer from multiple sclerosis, while in the United States the disease affects around 350.000 people. For some reason, multiple sclerosis predominantly affects the female gender. Although the disease can also be developed by men, multiple sclerosis is very common in women. Another interesting characteristic of multiple sclerosis is that it commonly affects young people. The disease has the highest incidence in people with ages between 20 and 40, rarely affecting the elderly.

Multiple sclerosis involves damage of the nervous cells, destroying myelin, a substance that normally covers neurons. Myelin has a vital role in transmitting nervous impulses throughout the entire body, establishing connections between the neighboring nervous cells. When the layers of myelin are affected, nervous impulses travel at reduced speed between neurons and the body is unable to adequately respond to external stimuli.

The symptoms of multiple sclerosis are diversified and they can be perceived in different regions of the body. Most patients have individualized symptoms of multiple sclerosis, and they tend to occur in episodes, or