Apparently it's MS AWARENESS WEEK! So I thought I would take this opportunity to go back to the basics and share the key information I believe everyone should know about MS.
WHAT IS MS?
- A neurological condition
- Essentially your body attacks itself...
- The IMMUNE SYSTEM mistakes the nerve covering
called Myelin and ATTACKS it. (Think of an electric cable and the covering gets
damaged exposing the wires).
- This covering helps messages travel smoothly
from the brain to the rest of the body. Once damaged this leaves scarring and can
cause a range of symptoms.
- Depending on where the attack occurred,
different symptoms will present themselves.
- Currently there is no known specific cause
and no cure
There are THREE
TYPES OF MS:
1. RELAPSING REMITTING (I have this one!)
2. SECONDARY PROGRESSIVE
3. PRIMARY PROGRESSIVE
WHO HAS IT?
100 THOUSAND people in the UK and 2.5 MILLION
in the world.
Most people are diagnosed between 20 - 40
years of age (I was diagnosed at 22)
Three times MORE WOMEN have MS than MEN (I'm
a girl, woo!)
WHAT CAUSES MS AND WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS?
There is no known exact cause of MS
However, research shows that a lack of
VITAMIN D, past exposure to GLANDULAR FEVER, (I had this when I was 17!) SMOKING
and ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS related to living further from the equator
are all linked to MS.
I find that HEAT, STRESS, SUGAR and LACK OF
SLEEP all cause my MS to flare up.
MS symptoms can be so hard to tell because they aren't always physical!
- VISION PROBLEMS I've lost my sight in one eye or the other 3 times!
- BALANCE PROBLEMS AND DIZZINESS This is a funny one for me as I'm always falling over myself or
finding myself leaning as I speak to someone!! I try and style it out.
- FATIGUE I find this one the worst because it's an OVERWHELMING SENSE OF
TIREDNESS that is UNCONTROLLABLE and it has very often prevented me from seeing
friends after work or staying up to watch movies. It sometimes interferes with
work but I MANAGE IT with 8 hours sleep a night and this seems to
be helping.
- BLADDER PROBLEMS
- COGNITIVE (Memory and Thinking) sometimes I can't get my words out or say what I want to say in
the correct way. It's been noticed and it's so frustrating!!
- PINS AND NEEDLES / TINGLING SENSATION I was diagnosed when I lost the feeling slowly from my toes all the way
up to my arms, chest and back limiting my movement and making it very hard to
feel anything or do day to day activities like cutting food, holding a glass of
water or buttning up jeans.
- TREMOR
- PAIN
There are many more symptoms but these are
the most common.
This is just an insight in to MS and I hope
more and more people can know what it is and not confuse it for ME or MND
:-)
One step at a time I will spread the word and
slowly RAISE AWARENESS.
P x
No comments:
Post a Comment