Multiple sclerosis: causes, symptoms and treatment of the disease

I’ve never heard of multiple sclerosis? If you watched television in the 2000s, you may remember the character of Marinete in the TV series “A Dirista”, played by actress and comedian Cláudia Rodrigues. Caught with the disease, Claudia has been receiving treatment for over twenty years. Learn more about the disease, its causes and treatment below.

This sclerosis is is autoimmune disorderand chronic, affecting neurons in certain areas of the central nervous system (CNS). Its action on the neuron demyelinates the axon sheath, inhibits the efficient transport of nerve impulses, causes changes in the functioning of the body, affects vision, cognition, memory and motor coordination. But let’s break it down to explain the mechanism of this disease more clearly.

In order to decipher all this information, we need to understand what it is. autoimmune diseasesAnd what is this myelin sheath?

Let’s start with autoimmune diseases.

When our body suffers from some degree of inflammation or cell damage, certain cells responsible for immunity in our body recognize and attack aggressive agents such as viruses, bacteria or even exposure to chemical agents and neutralize this threat. However, in some cases, these defense cells begin to interpret the healthy cells in our body as aggressive agents and destroy them.

in the case of multiple sclerosisThese defense cells attack neurons and destroy the myelin sheath that covers the axon. The defense cells seem to have destroyed the layer of a conductive energy wire. Without this part that closes the wire, the energy cannot reach the terminal correctly and prevents the correct transmission of information from one neuron to the next.

Without this information, our nervous system will not function efficiently, and in the case of multiple sclerosis there are areas that are most targeted by our faulty immune cells, which mainly affect neurons in the brain, brain stem, optic nerves, and spinal cord. . . . These areas of sclerosis affect speech, motor coordination, thought processing, vision, and memory. Other clinical signs and symptoms include fatigue, tingling sensations in the limbs, loss of muscle strength, difficulty walking, among others.

Causes may be genetic, with genes already identified by science that may have an inherited factor, and environmental factors such as viral infections, prolonged vitamin D deficiency, smoking, obesity, and prolonged exposure to chemicals.

Exposure to these factors during adolescence is believed to have a greater impact on the development of multiple sclerosis during adolescence and adulthood. As most of the affected population consists of women aged 20 to 40 years.

What is the diagnosis and treatment of multiple sclerosis?

The diagnosis of multiple sclerosis is made through MRI scans of the skull and spine and collection of cerebrospinal fluid by lumbar puncture. The images look for lesions that appear as calcified spots in the central nervous system. To be considered a positive diagnosis, these lesions must meet specific criteria for localization in the CNS and at least two points that indicate the presence of the lesion must be affected, along with clinical signs and symptoms and CSF analysis. disease.

Treatment is carried out in a pharmacological manner with drugs aimed at suppressing the action of immune cells in the body and reducing the occurrence of demyelinating outbreaks. This helps the immune system of the person who is immunosuppressed. sclerosis do not attack neurons irregularly, prevent rapid progression of the disease.

In addition to drug therapy, there is also the possibility of stem cell transplantation to restore normal immune system functions. Actress Cláudia Rodrigues received this treatment and showed improvement. But due to some mechanism disease not yet fully clarified, although progress has been made. sclerosis.

Can Multiple Sclerosis Be Treated?

Unfortunately, there is still no definitive cure and multiple sclerosis tends to be progressive and irreversible. However, in the early stages of the disease, with appropriate treatment, there is great possibility for recovery, which reduces the risk of sequelae in each demyelinating outbreak and provides more activity time for this patient.

Despite progress over the years, it is possible to maintain quality of life with appropriate treatment and medical follow-up.