World MS Day 2024
This year, the focus of World MS Day is on the importance of early diagnosis and treatment of Multiple sclerosis. Consultant neurologist Dr Basil Ridha says that this is achieved by raising awareness of the condition and arranging appropriate assessments and investigations.
Diagnosing MS at an earlier stage allows better forward planning and accessing needed services in a timely fashion and facilitating lifestyle changes to maximise brain and general health reserve. More importantly, access to disease modifying therapies aimed at slowing down disease progression work better if they are started at an early stage of the condition. The ultimate goal is to minimise the impact of MS on daily life over the years to come.
The importance of early diagnosis and treatment is elegantly highlighted in an article by Professor Gavin Giovannoni and international colleagues “Brain health: time matters in multiple sclerosis” published in 2016. Since then, more and more evidence has gathered to support the importance of early diagnosis and treatment, particularly in the presence of increasing number of available therapies which improving balance between efficacy and side effects.
In Guernsey, support from a multi-disciplinary team based at Health and Social Care includes specialist health advice, support with diagnosis, and discussions about medications with a specialist nurse and a neurology consultant.
The MS Society Guernsey group are very proactive and offer a range of wellbeing interventions including massage, exercise classes, foot health and social events.
More than 130,000 people in the UK have MS and around 150 people in Guernsey live with the condition.
So, what is Multiple sclerosis?
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurological condition that affects the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord).
It occurs when the immune system by error attacks the covering sheet (myelin) around the nerve axons, which is like the plastic covering of an electric wire. The damage to the myelin sheet slows down electrical signal conduction along the nerves.
The symptoms, which vary according to the function of the nerves affected, may include visual loss or impairment and limb weakness or numbness and typically last for weeks or months. Such episodes of new neurological disturbance are called relapses.
The affected parts of the brain or spinal cord appear on MRI scanning as areas of active inflammation, if recent, or as old scars. Typically, there are multiple areas of scarring (sclerosis), hence the name multiple sclerosis. With each new area of inflammation, a patient may present with a new neurological problem, which subsequently either improves completely or leaves behind some deficits. This pattern of MS is called relapsing and remitting MS (RRMS).
In addition to the accumulation of scars, with the passage of time, there may be gradual loss of nerve cells (degeneration) which can lead to a slow gradual decline in mobility. This is what is typically seen in the progressive forms of MS.
Most people (85%) with MS have the RRMS form. The rest either start off with RRMS and years later develop a progressive form of MS (secondary progressive MS) or, rarely, start off with a progressive form (primary progressive MS).
Although there is no simple cure for MS, there are now many medications – known as disease modifying agents – which can slow down the occurrence of further relapses, accumulation of scars seen on MRI scans and the gradual progression of disability.
Who is most likely to be affected?
Everybody is different as MS can present in different ways and follow different timelines.
More common in women than in men, it typically occurs in young adults around the ages of 20 to 30 but can also occur in later life.
MS is the most common neurological cause of physical disability in young adults. However, people with MS can remain stable and lead essentially normal lives with the right support and treatment.
For more information on World MS Day, visit World MS Day 2024 | Overcoming MS