Importance of proper diagnosis of multiple sclerosis
Dr.Kut | Feb 14, 2010 | Comments 0
Multiple sclerosis is a disease which has proven to be very difficult to diagnose. It has been found that early detection of multiple sclerosis can save you a lot of pains in the long run not to mention the costs incurred in treating this kinds of ailments. However, there is also concern that due to early diagnosis, you may not have this disease at all and there are many cases of patients that got treatment for multiple sclerosis when they were actually having some other disease.
Multiple sclerosis is a very common disease which affects about 3 million people all over the world. It affects women more than men and it can start to show symptoms in the early stages of adulthood.
There are many kinds of autoimmune diseases and that is why giving the right diagnosis is very difficult. Autoimmune diseases are those related to the immune systems being unable to maintain a balance, becoming over active and losing their sense of response, thus attacking the good cells in the body. Rheumatoid arthritis is another kind of autoimmune disease, however, in arthritis, the immune system attacks the joints and in multiple sclerosis it goes for the nerve fibers of the organs like the brain and the spinal cord.
The body reacts to the attack depending on the area. If for example your visual nerves are under attack, then the symptoms will be of problems with your vision, or if it is related to your sensual nerves then you may experience numbness of the limbs. However, these symptoms normally can be seen with dizziness, weakness and clumsiness. Therefore the diagnosis becomes very difficult at the early stage.
Even though the medical science has gone a long way in trying to create a platform where all these conditions can be easily understood, still there is a lot of work that needs to be done. However, tests conducted can be very useful in making the right diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.
These tests include clinical evaluations and MRS scanning and examination of the cerebrospinal fluids. This exams need to be conducted in a very specific manner to be able to correlated them with each other and to come to the right conclusion. Physical examination will include small things like family history and high risks of multiple sclerosis. However, even complex tests like an MRI scan can leave you with a negative response, although you may actually be suffering from multiple sclerosis.
MRI’s are done only on patients that are having certain kinds of symptoms, and the doctor is able to rule out multiple sclerosis most of the time. Another very important test that is conducted regularly to diagnose multiple sclerosis is the cerebrospinal fluid. This fluid is covering most of the brain cells and the spinal cord cells as well and the presence of multiple sclerosis can be seen if there is abnormality in this fluid.
However, it has been seen that even this method of testing for multiple sclerosis can prove to be wrong, as there are patients having abnormal cells that do not have multiple sclerosis.
Medical studies are being conducted to try and find the best methods of diagnosing diseases like multiple sclerosis before they reach a stage where treatment becomes very difficult; however, there is a lot of work still to be done in this aspect.
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Filed Under: Blood and Immunity • General Health
