You may have to adapt your daily life if you're diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), but with the right care and support many people can lead long, active and healthy lives.
Effect of MS on Life Span
In the population studied, people with MS had a median life span of 75.9 years, while for people without MS, it was 83.4 years.
People with MS and their partners tell us living with the condition can create both physical and emotional barriers, which can put a strain on relationships. For some couples, worries about MS and uncertainty about the future can cause a breakdown in communication and intimacy.
Communicating with friends and family can help you relate your condition to them, but there is nothing better than connecting with other people that are living with MS. There are MS Focus support groups in many communities that offer meetings. There are also support groups online if you can't make an in-person meeting.
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.
Studies have shown lifestyle changes like stopping smoking and doing more exercise can help improve a range of MS symptoms. Exercise in particular can improve symptoms like fatigue, pain and balance and mobility problems. And we know giving up smoking can slow progression and reduce relapses.
Chronic illness has a harmful effect on marriages, as a study at the University of Michigan found. Researchers found that not only did 31 percent of marriages involving at least one sick partner result in a divorce, but the risk of separation for older couples was higher when the wife was sick, rather than the husband.
Dating someone with MS, or being in a relationship with them, can be a source of happiness and contentment. However, the condition can also be challenging, meaning people may need to adapt their approach to spending quality time together, intimacy, and maintaining an emotional connection.
While many with MS will experience depression or anxiety at some point, more rarely, some people experience changes to their emotions or behaviour that don't seem to make sense, or that they aren't able to control.
MS changes with age. Early on it's often the relapsing-remitting form. You alternate between relapses and symptom-free periods. As you get older, MS becomes more of a progressive disease.
Many people with MS may live for 25 to 35 years or longer after their diagnosis. Survival is improving in MS patients, but chronic medical conditions such as heart disease, lung disease, depression, or diabetes may lower life expectancy in MS.
By finding treatments that prevent nerve loss, we could slow or stop the progression of MS.
Alcohol's Effect on MS Symptoms
Even one drink can make issues like unsteadiness worse. “If you have a lot of trouble with balance, thinking, or memory symptoms from MS, it may be better to avoid alcohol altogether,” says Graves. Alcohol can also lead to sleep problems and worsen bladder symptoms.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) triggers that worsen symptoms or cause a relapse can include stress, heart disease and smoking. While some are easier to avoid than others, maintaining a healthy lifestyle and overall health and wellness can have outsized benefits for MS patients.
In conclusion, it appears that drinking a moderate amount of caffeine shouldn't have any ill-effect on people with MS.
Can stress cause MS? Some people with MS feel that they developed MS as a direct result of some stressful event or trauma. The evidence on this connection is mixed. Some studies do see an effect whilst others don't.
Telling people you have multiple sclerosis can be hard, but talking about your MS to friends family and colleagues could really help. Especially if you need some extra support. Accepting your MS diagnosis yourself can be difficult, let alone having to break the news to others.
People with MS can benefit from at least 30 minutes of physical activity at least three days a week. For someone with MS , exercise that's too aggressive can bring on severe fatigue and injury and exacerbate symptoms.
Multiple sclerosis is caused by your immune system mistakenly attacking the brain and nerves. It's not clear why this happens but it may be a combination of genetic and environmental factors.
There is no cure for MS, but there are drugs that can alter the course of the condition. Research in recent years has determined a few things about risk factors. For example, low levels of vitamin D, smoking, having overweight, and living farther from the Equator can increase the risk.
We know early treatment improves long-term health and wellbeing by slowing down the build up of irreversible damage and reducing the number of relapses people experience. Starting MS treatment early is best but if you start later it can also have some benefits.