MS is a disease of the central nervous system that affects the brain and spinal cord. It strikes an estimated 250,000 people in the United States and is the major acquired neurologic disease in young adults. Common signs and symptoms of MS include fatigue, psychological and cognitive changes, weakness or paralysis of limbs, numbness, vision problems, speech difficulties, problems with walking or motor skills, bladder problems, and sexual dysfunction.

Relapsing-remitting MS, the most common form of the disease, is characterized by attacks interspersed with stable periods. About 75 percent of people are originally diagnosed with this form of the disease. Secondary progressive MS is the second stage of MS for nearly half the patients initially diagnosed as relapsing-remitting. In this stage, there are periods of intermittent attacks and remissions before the disease begins a course of steady progression.

Other less common forms include primary-progressive MS, in which the symptoms generally do not remit, and progressive-relapsing MS, which is characterized by obvious acute attacks.

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Contact: Karen Richardson
krchrdsn@wfubmc.edu
336-716-4587
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center
10-May-2001