Can ms run it's course?

[elly]

Hi Everyone,

The other day i was in a bookshop reading up on ms (unfortunately this is my new hobby ). There was a book there that was showing different people that have been studied who have ms and how the disease has affected them throughout their lives. The author (DR) went on to say that in some people ms can eventually just run it's course. Of course it didn't say it was cured or anything ridiculous like that but that it just seems to stop in it's tracks.

I would love to believe that this is a possibility but i guess we will never know if we will be the ones that this happens to.

What do you think?

Thanks Elly

[jimmylegs]

i have heard of people just having one attack. also there are stories of people who managed their illness aggressively with dietary/lifestyle measures and lost their symptoms. i don't necessarily think this solution applies to all cases but it sure could help, if it's done carefully.

[Manchester]

Hi Elly,

I have heard this too but I don't think it is such a optimistic scenario is it may first appear.

The doc may be referring to the fact a lot of people do plateau eventually and at that stage may see no further progression. Sure, this could be interpreted as MS having run it course, however, in many cases this means they will have reached an EDSS of 7.5, 8 or 9 or at the least have quite a lot of none- reversible disability.

So not exactly a ringing endorsement that someone's MS will burn out at a stage when they are perhaps only 1-3 on the EDSS.

I think you would see a lot more research and articles on MS burning itself out if it were as simple as this book appears to suggest and you will be hard pressed to find even one.

As Jimmy says people can manage their condition well, others have one attack and no more, some have a relatively benign course which could be suggestive of what this doctor says. But this doesn't mean the MS has run its course.

Ho hum,
Manchester

[ClancyPavillion]

Hey Elly,
Glad to hear from you... nothing to add... just saying hello!

[Lyon]

The doc may be referring to the fact a lot of people do plateau eventually and at that stage may see no further progression. Sure, this could be interpreted as MS having run it course, however, in many cases this means they will have reached an EDSS of 7.5, 8 or 9 or at the least have quite a lot of none- reversible disability.

That's interesting. I've seen evidence for and have wondered the same thing. At one point it even seemed to me that if researchers could figure out what was causing MS to slow down at that point, maybe they could invoke the same event, only much earlier and lower disability level.

After more thought it seemed to me that every imaginable scenario required the brain to have been previously ravaged. A seemingly unlikely prospect to eke any benefit from.

That is a really interesting subject though. Too bad it's so hard to find specific information in that regard.

Bob

[Rita]

maybe the different course is because the cause is produced by different microorganisms.

[Lyon]

maybe the different course is because the cause is produced by different microorganisms.

Hi Rita,
I shouldn't have speculated at all because I'm not even sure it happens. Or, if it does happen, how often it happens that someone reaches a certain disability level and progression levels or slows.

I'm in the process of trying to read about it and I'm finding that it's hard to find good key words to bring up pertinent results. "multiple sclerosis progression" brings up tons of unrelated stuff. "multiple sclerosis progression plateau" brings up tons of stuff about the effectiveness of the crabs leveling off.....???

I suppose I should determine that it really does happen before speculating on why it happens
Bob

[Manchester]

Bob,

This article are the nearest I can get to finding applicable information

http://www2.healthtalk.com/go/multiple- ... -a-plateau

It is saying as people get older there is less active disease but continued slow progression.

All it means is that the active (autoimmune process) seems to stop but the underlying process continues, so not saying MS runs it course, but rather more indicative, to me, that the autoimmune process is not the primary reason for MS.

Manchester

[Lyon]

Thanks Manchester,
Yeah, that link was kind of skimpy but you've had better luck in finding that kind of information than I've had!

I think this topic of progression slowing down after great disability is directly related to the "assumptions" regarding the more progressive phases of MS being unresponsive to current treatments. I don't want to go on a tangent so I won't mention that researchers REALLY need to start basing their assumptions on more solid grounds.

Bob

[k8belle]

My grandmother had MS for thirty years. It deprived her of her ability to walk without a walker, and she sometimes used a wheelchair for outings, but after thirty years, the damage stopped progressing. The damage already done did not reverse, but it did not progress any further. She died of a stroke twenty years later at the age of 92.