Multiple Sclerosis
Diagram showing a normal neuron and a neuron with Multiple Sclerosis
It's a puzzle that baffles medical scientists. There is no known cause or cure. 20,000 Australians are affected with Multiple Sclerosis and every year, 1,000 more cases are diagnosed. Three times the women are affected with Multiple Sclerosis than men, and experts struggle to explain why.
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease in which the white, fatty myelin sheath surrounding the axons of the neurons involved with the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord), are damaged. This damage of the myelin sheath is known as "demyelination". The myelin sheath is very important for cell communication, as it insulates the axons of neurons, allowing very rapid transmissions of action potentials. When a neuron is demyelinated, the body attempts to heal the wound. As a result, an inflammatory response is activated and scar tissue replaces the myelin over time. However, scar tissue does not insulate the axons of neurons as well as myelin does, so this is the issue present for patients with MS."Multiple" means many, and "Sclerosis" means hardening of body tissues. In MS, the "Sclerosis" term refers to the neurons affected with a loss of myelin.
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease in which the white, fatty myelin sheath surrounding the axons of the neurons involved with the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord), are damaged. This damage of the myelin sheath is known as "demyelination". The myelin sheath is very important for cell communication, as it insulates the axons of neurons, allowing very rapid transmissions of action potentials. When a neuron is demyelinated, the body attempts to heal the wound. As a result, an inflammatory response is activated and scar tissue replaces the myelin over time. However, scar tissue does not insulate the axons of neurons as well as myelin does, so this is the issue present for patients with MS."Multiple" means many, and "Sclerosis" means hardening of body tissues. In MS, the "Sclerosis" term refers to the neurons affected with a loss of myelin.
