Rekans, saya tidak menemukan artikel tentang penyakit
ini, namun saya dapatkan artikel yang menurut saya
hampir mirip dengan gejala yang disebutkan. Karena
banyak, saya ambilkan beberapa topik. Untuk jelasnya
bisa dilihat di http://www.accenthealth.com.
Semoga berguna.

Mamanya Dafi


Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

Topic Overview
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease of the brain and
spinal cord that can cause problems with:
      Muscle control and strength
      Vision
      Balance
      Sensation (like numbness or tingling in your
feet or hands)

The symptoms of MS are caused by inflammation in the
brain and spinal cord (central nervous system) and
destruction of the protein coating (myelin) that
surrounds and protects nerve fibers. This process is
called demyelination. The damage that results from
this process disrupts the normal flow of messages
(nerve impulses) through the brain, spinal cord, and
nerves that control how a person moves and feels.

MS affects different people in different ways. For
people who have only mild symptoms from time to time,
the disease may not have much impact on their
day-to-day lives. Other people with more severe MS
have ongoing symptoms and may become disabled within a
few years. 

Most people with MS fall somewhere in the middle. For
them, MS involves a series of attacks that cause
symptoms of the disease. These attacks are called
relapses, flares, or exacerbations. They may last for
days or weeks and then partially or completely go
away. Relapses may be mild or severe and tend to recur
over a period of years. These relapses may become
worse and more frequent as the years go by, with
symptoms becoming more severe and disabling as time
goes by. Fortunately, with the most common forms of
the disease, there are new treatments (interferon beta
and glatiramer acetate) that can reduce the frequency
and severity of attacks in some people.

A diagnosis of MS can be difficult to accept for the
thousands of healthy, active people whom the disease
strikes without warning. Though rarely
life-threatening, MS has no cure. Most people live
with
the disease for decades. Many face growing disability
as the years go by.

Dealing with the physical, practical, and emotional
demands of MS is not easy for those affected by the
disease or for their families and caregivers. With or
without the aid of treatment, however, many people
with MS can and do find ways to cope with their
disease.

Who is Affected 

In the United States, multiple sclerosis affects
250,000 to 350,000 people, or about 1 in 1000 1. About
two-thirds of the people who have MS are women.

The prevalence of MS varies with:
Geographic location
Family characteristics
Age

Cause

The cause of multiple sclerosis (MS) is unknown.
Because a person's risk of MS is significantly higher
when a parent has MS, a genetic factor probably plays
a role in causing the disease.

The unusual relationship between a person's geographic
location during childhood and his risk of MS later in
life suggests that there may be an environmental
factor at work in the disease. Some researchers think
that this factor may be a viral illness, but there is
no clear proof of this.

A childhood viral illness or other environmental
factor is by itself not enough to explain why some
people later develop MS. A growing body of research
suggests that a problem with the body's natural
defense system (immune system) occurring later in life
may trigger the onset of MS in people who were exposed
to a certain factor during childhood. The "trigger"
may be an autoimmune reaction in which the immune
system attacks the protein coating (myelin) that
protects nerve fibers.

Other events have been proposed as triggers of MS, but
none have been proven.

Symptoms

People who have multiple sclerosis (MS) do not all
have the same symptoms. Symptoms vary according to
which parts of the brain or spinal cord (central
nervous system) are damaged by the disease. The loss
of myelin and scarring caused by MS can affect any
part of the central nervous system.

Symptoms may come and go or become more or less severe
from day to day and from hour to hour. Symptoms may
become more severe with increased (and less commonly,
decreased) body temperature or after a viral
infection.

Early symptoms 

The most common early symptoms of MS include
Muscle (motor) symptoms: weakness, leg dragging,
stiffness, tendency to drop things, feeling of
heaviness, clumsiness, lack of coordination (ataxia)
Visual symptoms: blurred, foggy, or hazy vision,
eyeball pain (especially with movement), blindness,
double vision. At some point in the course of the
disease, about 40% of people will have an attack of
optic neuritis, which causes visual symptoms.

Less common early symptoms include:
Sensory symptoms: tingling, pins-and-needles
sensation, numbness, bandlike tightness around the
trunk or limbs, electrical sensations moving down the
back and limbs
Balance symptoms: light-headedness or dizziness,
spinning feeling (vertigo), nausea, vomiting Bladder
symptoms: inability to hold urine (urinary
incontinence), inability to completely empty the
bladder, loss of bladder sensation (the person is
unable to sense the bladder becoming full until there
is a sudden, urgent need to urinate), loss of male
sexual function. These problems are not common in the
early stages of the disease.

Advanced symptoms 
As MS progresses, symptoms may become more severe and
may include:
Muscle (motor) symptoms: stiff, mechanical movements
(spasticity), uncontrollable shaking (tremor)
Sensory symptoms: pain
Bladder symptoms: inability to control urine
(incontinence); less often, inability to urinate
(urinary retention)
Bowel disorders: constipation
Impotence (erectile dysfunction) in men

Thinking and emotional problems are common in people
who have had MS for some time. They rarely occur as a
result of the first attack of MS. Since thinking and
emotional problems may be treatable or may be caused
by conditions other than MS, the person should always
mention any new symptoms to his or her doctor.

Thinking problems may include memory loss, difficulty
in concentration, or speech problems. Emotional
symptoms may include depression or mood disorders. A
very rare symptom is excessive cheerfulness that seems
inappropriate.




=====

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com

Kunjungi: http://www.balita-anda.indoglobal.com
"Untuk mereka yang mendambakan anak balitanya tumbuh sehat & cerdas"

-= Dual T3 Webhosting on Dual Pentium III 450 - www.indoglobal.com =-
Etika berinternet, kirim email ke: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Berhenti berlangganan, e-mail ke:  [EMAIL PROTECTED]
EMERGENCY ONLY! Jika kesulitan unsubscribe, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Panduan Menulis Email yang Efektif http://hhh.indoglobal.com/email/ 
http://pencarian-informasi.or.id/ - Solusi Pencarian Informasi di Internet






Kirim email ke