About MS > What is MS?
MS is a neurological condition affecting the
central nervous system (CNS). It is the most common neurological condition among young adults, with around 72 in every 100,000 people in New Zealand affected by this disease1. MS is most often diagnosed in people between the ages of 20 and 40, and women are
about three times as likely to develop MS as men.
Currently there is no cure for MS. However, most symptoms of MS can be managed effectively and some treatments are available. Although the cause is not yet completely understood, research continues into all aspects of this condition.
What causes MS?
MS is an autoimmune disease. This means that your immune system, which normally helps to fight off infections, mistakes your body’s own tissue for a foreign invader and attacks it. In MS, the immune system attacks the myelin coating nerve fibres in the central nervous system causing areas of inflammation and scars known as lesions or plaques. This disrupts the information travelling along the nerve fibres, so that the messages can slow down, become distorted, or not get through at all.
This damage to the myelin or to the nerves causes the symptoms of MS. The type of symptoms depends on the location of the lesions within the central nervous system. Because the brain and spinal cord are involved in many bodily activities, different types of symptoms can be seen in MS and every person will have a different pattern of symptoms.
Sometimes the damage caused by MS can affect the normal functioning of some parts of the body, such as the legs or muscles involved in speech. This can mean that many people with MS have a visible disability or symptom, such as difficulty walking or with their speech. However, some people who are diagnosed with MS do not develop any noticeable disability.
Who Gets MS?
There is no way of predicting who will develop MS, however certain people are more likely to develop MS than others. Women are around three times as likely as men to get MS, and diagnosis is more likely to occur between the ages of 20 and 40. In general, white people of Scandinavian decent have a greater chance of developing MS than people from other ethnic backgrounds.
MS is not considered to be an inherited condition. While there is a slightly higher risk of developing MS if you have a parent with this condition, this risk remains low at approximately 2.5%.
There are likely to be a number of factors which work in combination to influence the development of MS in individuals, including genetic and environmental factors. Research has suggested a role of genes in MS, and environmental factors may include diet, exposure to viral infections and sunlight.
Types of MS
Being diagnosed with MS does not necessarily mean a life of disability. People with MS can lead a very normal life with appropriate treatment and management of their symptoms.
MS is characterised by the pattern of attacks or relapses, and the remission of symptoms with either recovery of functioning or the progression of disability. While everyone is different, patterns of symptoms and the course of MS disease usually falls into one of four main types:
Benign MS
Around 10% of people diagnosed with MS have a benign course of disease with few symptom attacks and little or no permanent disability even late into life.
Relapsing-remitting MS
Approximately 50% of people with MS have a course of disease that follows a relapsing-remitting pattern, where MS attacks are followed by complete or partial remission. Attacks are usually months or years apart.
Secondary progressive MS
Also known as relapsing-progressive MS, around 30% of people will have an initial pattern of disease that is characterised by attacks and remission, which changes later in the disease course to the progressive worsening of symptoms.
Primary progressive MS
Primary progressive or chronic progressive MS is a pattern of disease where there is a slow or gradual worsening of symptoms and disability over time without the presence of attacks or remission. This pattern of disease is less common, affecting around 10% of people with MS.
1 National Study of MS Prevalence, MS Society of New Zealand, Media Release, August 2008.