Can you tell if someone has multiple sclerosis?

Most people with MS have relapses of symptoms followed by periods of recovery (remission). MS can cause many different symptoms, including trouble with muscle control and vision, tiredness, pain and changes in thinking. An MRI scan of your brain can show areas of damage, but there is no single test to diagnose MS.

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Can you tell if someone has MS?

There is a long list of possible MS symptoms, and they vary from person to person. The most common symptoms of MS include fatigue, urinary and bowel issues and sexual dysfunction. Some patients may have problems with pain, walking, balance, blurred vision, slurred speech and swallowing.

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What are 3 warning signs of MS?

Symptoms
  • Numbness or weakness in one or more limbs that typically occurs on one side of your body at a time.
  • Tingling.
  • Electric-shock sensations that occur with certain neck movements, especially bending the neck forward (Lhermitte sign)
  • Lack of coordination.
  • Unsteady gait or inability to walk.

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What is the number 1 symptom of MS?

Fatigue. Occurs in about 80% of people, can significantly interfere with the ability to function at home and work, and may be the most prominent symptom in a person who otherwise has minimal activity limitations.

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What are the warning signs for MS?

Early MS symptoms may include blurred vision, numbness, dizziness, muscle weakness, and coordination issues. MS is progressive and can worsen over time. Eventually, the disease can do damage directly to the nerves, causing permanent disability.

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How did you find out you had Multiple Sclerosis?

30 related questions found

What are 4 early signs of MS?

There are four potential early signs of MS that shouldn't be ignored.
  • Painful vision loss in one eye. Vision problems can have many causes. ...
  • Facial paralysis. ...
  • Persistent limb weakness or numbness. ...
  • Severe, ongoing dizziness.

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What age does MS usually start?

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.

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Does MS show up in blood work?

While there are no definitive blood tests for diagnosing MS, they can rule out other conditions that may mimic MS symptoms, including Lyme disease, collagen-vascular diseases, rare hereditary disorders, and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).

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Can you have MS for years and not know it?

Can I have multiple sclerosis for years and not know it? Yes. MS can go undetected for years. Research has suggested that many patients experience MS-related symptoms and signs several years before receiving a definite diagnosis of the disease.

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What is the life expectancy of someone with multiple sclerosis?

The researchers found that over the past 25 years, life expectancy for people with MS has increased. However, they also found that the median age of survival of people with MS was 76 years, versus 83 years for the matched population.

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How do doctors test for MS?

Lumbar puncture or spinal tap

It goes into the space around your spinal cord and collects a small sample of the fluid there. This is then tested for signs of MS. People with MS nearly always have antibodies in this fluid.

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Does MS come on suddenly?

Most symptoms develop abruptly, within hours or days. These attacks or relapses of MS typically reach their peak within a few days at most and then resolve slowly over the next several days or weeks so that a typical relapse will be symptomatic for about eight weeks from onset to recovery.

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What are the first signs of MS in a woman?

The early signs and symptoms of MS can be the same for women and men. One of the more obvious first signs of MS is a problem with vision, known as optic neuritis. This is often because it's a more concrete symptom as opposed to vaguer neurological symptoms like numbness and tingling.

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How does someone with MS behave?

Mood changes

These feelings will likely ebb and flow over the course of the disease. Worry, fear, moodiness, irritability and anxiety: normal reactions in the face of unpredictability; anyone can become irritable and anxious when faced with difficult challenges. Depression: one of the most common symptoms of MS.

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How do you test for MS in Australia?

Therefore a careful combination of clinical examinations, MRI scans and lumbar punctures are required. To differentiate MS from other similar neurological conditions, most neurologists use what is called the McDonald criteria.

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What other diseases mimic MS?

These include fibromyalgia and vitamin B12 deficiency, muscular dystrophy (MD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease), migraine, hypo-thyroidism, hypertension, Beçhets, Arnold-Chiari deformity, and mitochondrial disorders, although your neurologist can usually rule them out quite easily.

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Can an eye test detect MS?

Multiple sclerosis (MS).

When your optometrist detects optic nerve inflammation, that can indicate a diagnosis of MS. Patients with MS often also have double vision, blurred vision, or report pain when moving their eyes.

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Can MS be brought on by stress?

But studies which have investigated whether stress causes MS have been mixed. Although the person with MS knows from their experience that their MS symptoms started after or alongside a stressful period of time, there is no direct evidence that stress causes MS — although it might trigger it.

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What should MS patients avoid?

7 Foods to Avoid When You Have MS
  • Saturated Fats. Saturated fats come primarily from animal products and by-products, such as red meat and full-fat dairy, and are also found in foods that contain palm oil or coconut oil. ...
  • Trans Fats. ...
  • Cow's Milk. ...
  • Sugar. ...
  • Sodium. ...
  • Refined Carbs. ...
  • Gluten.

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What are three possible causes of MS?

But ongoing research shows many reasons could be at play, including your genes, where you live, and even the air you breathe. Though some things, like emotional trauma and infection, can worsen MS symptoms, there is no evidence to suggest that anything you do could cause the disease or stop its natural progress.

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Can you live a long life with MS?

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.

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How serious is multiple sclerosis?

It can cause symptoms like problems with vision, arm or leg movement, sensation or balance. It's a lifelong condition that can sometimes cause serious disability. In many cases, it's possible to treat symptoms. Average life expectancy is slightly reduced for people with MS.

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Is MS fatal if untreated?

MS itself is rarely fatal, but complications may arise from severe MS, such as chest or bladder infections, or swallowing difficulties. The average life expectancy for people with MS is around 5 to 10 years lower than average, and this gap appears to be getting smaller all the time.

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Does MS run in families?

MS is not an inherited disease — it is not passed down from generation to generation. But people can inherit genetic risk. This means that MS is not genetic in the simpler way that black hair or dimples are.

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