What is MS?
Multiple Sclerosis is one of the most common diseases of the
central nervous system (brain and spinal cord). MS is an
inflammatory demyelinating condition. Myelin is a fatty material
that insulates nerves, acting much like the covering of an electric
wire and allowing the nerve to transmit its impulses rapidly. It is
the speed and efficiency with which these impulses are conducted
that permits smooth, rapid and co-ordinated movements to be
performed with little conscious effort. In Multiple Sclerosis, the
loss of myelin (demyelination) is accompanied by a disruption in
the ability of the nerves to conduct electrical impulses to and from
the brain and this produces the various symptoms of MS. The sites
where myelin is lost (plaques or lesions) appear as hardened (scar)
areas: in Multiple Sclerosis these scars appear at different times
and in different areas of the brain and spinal cord - the term
Multiple Sclerosis meaning, literally, many scars
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