Abstract
In multiple sclerosis (MS), the immune system attacks and destroys the fatty myelin coating that surrounds and insulates nerve cells in a process known as demyelination. MS is a lifelong condition, and common symptoms include fatigue, muscle spasms, walking difficulties, or numbness and tingling of the face, body, arms and legs. These symptoms can worsen with time, affecting daily activities and reducing a person’s quality of life.
The disease is highly variable, and some people are affected more than others upon and after diagnosis. Treatments are available to help manage a number of symptoms.
Life expectancy for people with MS has increased considerably in the last 20 to 25 years. On average, however, a person with MS can expect to live seven fewer years than someone without this disease.
According to the National MS Society, on average, an MS patient lives about seven fewer years than someone in the general public, largely because of disease complications or other medical conditions, like cardiovascular disease. Only rarely does the disease progress so quickly that it is deadly.
Due to advances in treatments, care, and lifestyle adjustments, MS often progresses slowly. Many studies show that, nowadays, about two-thirds of all patients retain a fair degree of mobility—the ability to walk, although likely with an assisted device—some 20 years after being diagnosed. Assisted devices can range from supports to aid in walking, to scooters used on occasion to save energy and avoid fatigue.
The course of the disease depends on each patient’s risk factors, like having a family member with MS, cigarette smoking, and vitamin D sunlight exposure. And, among African-Americans, the disease tends to be a more progressive form and progression can be quicker.
MS prognosis is thought to be better for people with relapsing-remitting MS than for those with progressive forms of MS, likely because of a better response to disease-modifying therapies.
Performance in daily activities, cognitive impairment and perception in multiple sclerosis patients and their caregivers
