![]() Researchers followed 20,000 Norwegian men who were about to enter military service, 900 of whom went on to develop MS. There is now more evidence to suggest that there may be some symptoms that occur in people well before their first demyelinating event or MS diagnosis, he says.Ĭognitive impairment is one potential symptom of prodrome that has been identified, says Otallah, referring to a study in the Annals of Neurology. “Prodrome for MS has been discussed and studied more in recent years 10 or 15 years ago, we didn’t necessarily think of MS as having a prodrome,” says Otallah. It’s an early stage of signs or symptoms that happens before the onset of the typical symptoms. MS Prodrome: Are There Symptoms That Anticipate MS Symptoms?Ī prodrome is a premonitory or warning phase of a medical problem yet to come. Trouble walking can be among the first indications of MS, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. Numbness or tingling associated with MS tends to develop over days or weeks and takes days or weeks to resolve, says Otallah.īalance and Walking Difficulties Balance problems and dizziness are common early signs of MS, says Otallah. ![]() This isn’t the temporary, pins-and-needles numbness that accompanies resting on an arm or leg in the wrong way, which lasts for seconds or minutes and goes away within a few minutes as blood flow returns to the area. The feeling can be in the trunk, arms, legs, hands, or one side of the face, according to the Merck Manual. Weakness or Numbness Weakness or numbness in one part of the body can be an early sign of MS. This symptom usually means that MS has caused damage in the cervical spine (neck), per the NMS. ![]() In most cases of optic neuritis, vision returns on its own or with steroid treatment.ĭysesthesia (MS Hug) The “MS hug” is a strange squeezing sensation that can feel like a blood pressure cuff around the entire torso. Other symptoms of optic neuritis include blurred vision and diminished color vision. These symptoms are typical of optic neuritis, which is caused by an inflammation of the optic nerve. Vision Loss Eye pain and loss of vision in one or, rarely, both eyes can be among the first signs of MS, says Otallah. The following are some common early symptoms of MS. MS attacks, or flares, are also likely to cause lasting neurological deficits, or abnormalities in the function of a body part or area, even after the worst of the symptoms have subsided.Ĭommon Early Symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis The tendency for MS symptoms to worsen with heat is called Uhthoff phenomenon, notes StatPearls. MS symptoms may also worsen in hot temperatures or when a person heats up from exercise or a hot bath, for example. ![]() Symptoms that come and go within minutes or persist for only a short time - but not for hours - are much less likely to be caused by MS. Chitnis says, and can last for several days to a few weeks. MS symptoms develop slowly over the course of several hours or days, Dr. The key to determining whether a symptom might be due to MS is how it develops, says Tanuja Chitnis, MD, a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and the director of the Mass General Brigham Pediatric MS Center at Mass General Hospital for Children, both in Boston. “Any part of the central nervous system can have a demyelinating lesion, and so you can have almost any symptom that could potentially be perceived as neurologic that’s part of what can make diagnosis tricky,” says Otallah.įor one person, the first symptom of MS may be numbness and tingling, while for another it’s dizziness, and for yet another it’s crushing fatigue. While some symptoms of MS are very common, there’s no typical pattern of symptoms that applies to everyone. So while no one symptom should trigger an immediate concern that you have MS, it’s good to know the signs and symptoms so that if you have them - and especially if they persist - you can get them checked out by a doctor. “Part of that is because many of the symptoms of MS are found in other medical conditions, some of which are much more common,” Dr. One encouraging development in MS care is that the time it takes to get a diagnosis is shrinking, though it can still be challenging, says Scott Ireland Otallah, MD, a professor of neurology at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. ![]() The worldwide estimate of those living with MS is 2.9 million, according to the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation, and the global rate of increase means that one person is diagnosed with MS somewhere in the world every five minutes. According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMS), close to one million people are currently living with MS in the United States. While multiple sclerosis (MS) is not a particularly common disease, it’s not rare, either. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |