In a large 2015 study published in the journal Neurology, scientists compared 5,797 people who had MS with 28,807 people who didn't but who did have things in common like age and location. The study found that people with MS lived to be 75.9 years old, on average, compared to 83.4 years old for those without.
Ultimately, MS is a chronic illness, not a terminal one. While it can slightly shorten life expectancy, Chitnis says the reduction is unsubstantial: “I have seen many MS patients who live to be 70 or 80 years old.”
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is not generally considered life-threatening and most people will live a normal life-span. One study has found that the average life expectancy for people with MS is 76 years of age.
Medical advances have meant that in many cases, a person with MS can live as long as someone without MS. The symptoms can vary in severity from mild to debilitating, but treatments and strategies can help.
Many people living with multiple sclerosis experience aspects of normal aging years, or even decades, ahead of schedule. MS is known for affecting the body, but it also affects the mind.
Disease Course of MS Is Unpredictable
A person with benign MS will have few symptoms or loss of ability after having MS for about 15 years, while most people with MS would be expected to have some degree of disability after that amount of time, particularly if their MS went untreated.
Contents. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a condition that can affect the brain and spinal cord, causing a wide range of potential symptoms, including problems with vision, arm or leg movement, sensation or balance. It's a lifelong condition that can sometimes cause serious disability, although it can occasionally be mild.
Losing your ability to communicate. Immobility, which may lead to pressure sores and blood clots. Increased levels of pain. Mental decline or confusion.
Average life span of 25 to 35 years after the diagnosis of MS is made are often stated. Some of the most common causes of death in MS patients are secondary complications resulting from immobility, chronic urinary tract infections, compromised swallowing and breathing.
Pulmonary complications.
MS can weaken the muscles that control the lungs. Such respiratory issues are the major cause of sickness and death in people in the final stages of MS.
MS is not directly inherited from parent to child. There's no single gene that causes it. Over 200 genes might affect your chances of getting MS. But genes are only part of the story.
MS is a lifelong disease. Your symptoms may gradually get worse as it progresses and parts of the brain and spinal cord get damaged. But a few simple lifestyle changes can help you stay mobile and have a good quality of life for a long time.
In many patients, over a span of 5 to 15 years, the attacks begin more indolently, persist more chronically and remit less completely, gradually transforming into a pattern of steady deterioration rather than episodic flares. This pattern is referred to as secondary progressive MS.
Although most people are between 20 and 50 when they're diagnosed, the disease can strike folks who are older. This is called late-onset MS and it's commonly defined as the occurrence of the first MS symptoms after age 50.
MS can appear at any age but most commonly manifests between the ages of 20 and 40. It affects women two to three times as often as men. Almost one million people in the United States have MS, making it one of the most common causes of neurological disability among young adults in North America.
Some of the factors that have been suggested as possible causes of MS include: your genes – MS isn't directly inherited, but people who are related to someone with the condition are more likely to develop it; the chance of a sibling or child of someone with MS also developing it is estimated to be around 2 to 3 in 100.
While living with multiple sclerosis is a challenge, palliative care can make a big difference. Some palliative care treatments for MS include medications and techniques relieve muscle spasms, calm nerves, ease depression and manage pain. Palliative care teams treat your specific symptoms, whatever they may be.
Does multiple sclerosis shorten your life? Multiple sclerosis itself is not usually lethal, but it can increase the risk of long-term complications, such as infections or trouble swallowing, that can potentially shorten survival. On average, longevity is about five to 10 years shorter in people with MS.
As you get older, MS becomes more of a progressive disease. You might notice your MS symptoms start to get worse just as you reach menopause. In menopause, your ovaries stop producing the hormones estrogen and progesterone. Levels of these hormones decline and then eventually disappear.
Over time, symptoms stop coming and going and begin getting steadily worse. The change may happen shortly after MS symptoms appear, or it may take years or decades. Primary-progressive MS: In this type, symptoms gradually get worse without any obvious relapses or remissions.
These symptoms can fluctuate depending on the time of day. For example, symptoms affected by heat tend to be worse during the day, while muscle tightness and pain worsen at night. There are things people with MS can do to cope with symptoms during day and night time fluctuations.
While there is no cure for MS (multiple sclerosis), there are some studies that suggest early, aggressive treatment should begin at the earliest signs of the disease for many patients.
The cause of multiple sclerosis is unknown. It's considered an immune mediated disease in which the body's immune system attacks its own tissues. In the case of MS , this immune system malfunction destroys the fatty substance that coats and protects nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord (myelin).