Multiple Sclerosis
I have a friend who is going to nursing school who just came and explained MS to me. He did a really good job and I want to write it all down before I forget. This should by no means be considered complete or medically accurate. This is merely my way of understanding MS.
MS is an autoimmune disease effecting the brain and spinal cord (central nervous system). Your immune system attacks the myelin sheaths which are protective and lubricating fatty cells that surround the axons. Axons make the connections between neurons. Myelin sheaths make the connections between neurons lightning fast.
With MS your T cells do not recognize these cells as part of your body and attack them (like the would a virus or any other intruder). While being attacked these cells swell, are damaged, and scar tissue accumulates. This damage slows or stops connections between neurons.
My next questions was: “What does that mean? My body attacking it’s self. Why doesn’t it understand I’m me?”
Your immune system has antibodies which go around and check antigens to make sure they are you. They have an arm that reaches out and grabs onto the antigens (see bottom left corner of the picture below). If it fits the antibody knows that it is you and leaves it alone. In the case of and autoimmune disease the antibodies don’t recognize that the antigen is you and attack.
One of the medications for MS is called Interferons. They literally interfere with your antibodies so they don’t attack the antigens. The other medication is a disease modifier. It replicates the amino acids found in myelin and acts as a distraction to the immune system leaving the true myelin intact.
Some things that worsen attacks is STRESS, hot baths, sun exposure, fevers…etc. It seems like anything that makes you too hot exasperates symptoms.
And that is MS as understood by myself.
To learn more from a more reliable source please visit The PubMed Health page on MA. (I also thank them and these guys for the pictures)
Rheumatoid Arthritis
talk about having 2 or more Auto immune diseases
