Diagnosing Multiple Sclerosis - Brief Discussion

Here, you will obtain a better idea of the process of diagnosing multiple sclerosis.

If you aren’t familiar with it, you should know that multiple sclerosis, or MS, is a degenerative disease whereby the nerves in the body are attacked. It is a chronic condition, and many suspect that MS is an auto immune disease.

It affects everyone differently, so it can be difficult to diagnose multiple sclerosis. Symptoms can range from loss of feeling in the limbs to paralysis or loss of vision. Early warning signs of this disease can be very similar, so it’s a good idea to examine some of the symptoms of multiple sclerosis.

• The most common early symptoms of MS include tingling, weakness of limbs, and loss of balance. Numbness and blurred or double vision may also occur.
  
  
• Less common early symptoms, but ones that certainly shouldn’t be ignored, include slurred speech, sudden paralysis, cognitive problems and loss of coordination.

These are some early warning signs that will often help doctors in diagnosing multiple sclerosis. While there is not one test that will allow a neurologist to diagnose the disease, there are a number of ways that MS is diagnosed. You should also know that about 10% of the time people are diagnosed with MS, they are actually suffering from a different disease that mimics multiple sclerosis.

Tests for Diagnosing Multiple Sclerosis

Blood tests may be done, as well as an MRI that can show abnormal spots on the brain or spine. These tests can be helpful in diagnosing multiple sclerosis. However, as scar tissue and other spots on the brain can occur because of other diseases, so an MRI should only be used as an aid to determine whether or not a person has MS.

Other tests include a spinal tap, so that the spinal fluid can be examined and tested for the disease. Evoked potentials will often be used to show if MS has affected a person’s nerve pathways.

Perhaps one of the most influential tools in diagnosing multiple sclerosis is a set of questions that a neurologist will ask a patient. These, combined with factors such as a person’s age and medical history, can be one of the most accurate diagnostic tools a neurologist uses.

Factors that may mean a positive multiple sclerosis diagnosis include:

• A person’s age (onset is between the ages of 20 – 50).
• Symptoms showing brain or spinal cord disease.
• MRI evidence of two or more lesions on the brain.
• Symptoms manifested two or more times and lasting at least 24 hours.
• Episodes are at least one month apart.
• If no other explanation of the symptoms can be found.

Another thing that patients will need to be aware of in the process of diagnosing multiple sclerosis, is that, sometimes, a neurologist may consult with other doctors to come to their diagnosis. Sometimes, patients may be experiencing symptoms of a disease that mimics multiple sclerosis, so it’s important to get at least one second opinion before accepting the diagnosis of MS.

It is also important to make sure that symptoms are properly diagnosed so that treatment of this disease can begin immediately. The sooner diagnosis and treatment of multiple sclerosis take place, the better treatment results are likely to be.

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