To parts of the nervous system Multiple sclerosis is a nerve or spinal cord disease that causes random damage. Depending on which parts of the cord are damaged, and how often the inflammation reoccurs. For possible symptoms the result is a diverse range. Typical symptoms are any kind of tingling, numbness, burning sensations, “pins-and-needles” or other types of sensory changes in various parts of the body; also possible are vision changes.
We see prognosis of multiple sclerosis is highly variable. Some people have very minor problems, whereas others can end up in a wheelchair, lose vision, or other nasty complications. Which part of the spinal cord or nervous system is attacked it just depends. Some people have what is called a “single sclerosis” where there is only one incident of a sclerosis (lesion) on the spinal cord, and this may or may not progress to “multiple” sclerosis.
The cause of multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease, which means that the immune system is somehow triggered to mount an attack against its own good cells – in this case the cells that surround nerves.
