Image credit: via @daylife
At just 26 years old, Jack Osbourne has revealed that he has the neurodegenerative disease multiple sclerosis (MS). Many people are in their 20s and 30s when symptoms begin, but perhaps making Osbourne's diagnosis more difficult was that it came just a couple of weeks after the birth of his daughter.
About 400,000 people in the U.S. have MS, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS), and worldwide, the figure is about 2.1 million. While no neurodegenerative disease is good news, people who have MS can live and work for many years after the onset. Newer medications can be extremely helpful in slowing the progression of the disease, reducing symptom flare-ups, and in helping people lead a full, normal life.
The exact causes of MS are unknown, but MS is generally believed to be an autoimmune disease. In this family of diseases, the body believes that some part of it is a foreign invader, so wages an immune system attack. In the case of MS, the body attacks the nervous system's myelin sheath – the "fatty" layer of tissue that insulates neurons and speeds communication between nerves cells. Over time, this critical element of nerve cells is degraded, and neurological symptoms can include problems in cognition and memory, motor movement, eyesight, balance, tingling and numbness, weakness, tremor, bladder and bowel problems, and sexual problems. Because nerves serve every organ of the body, almost all organ systems can be affected by MS.
Beyond being an autoimmune disease, researchers aren't exactly sure what triggers it: Factors in the environment, genetics, and viruses have all been suggested to play a role in the development of MS. Recently, vitamin D has been thought to affect MS risk, which may partially explain why people living nearer to the equator seem to be less at risk than people living further from it.
According to the NMSS, there are four courses the disease typically takes. The most common form, affecting about 85% of people with MS, is known as relapse-remitting MS (RRMS), in which progressing symptoms come on acutely from time to time, and then remiss either completely or with some residual deficits. About 10% of people with MS have primary-progressive form (PPMS), in which there is a more constant decline of function over time. People with the secondary-progressive form of MS (SPMS) may first have RRMS, but then experience less recovery between symptom "attacks"; many RRMS patients will eventually develop SPMS over the years. Finally, progressive-relapsing MS (PRMS) affects only 5% of patients, and have a general progression of symptoms interspersed with acute episodes, with full or partial recovery.
Though public perception of MS may be dire, in reality the disease is not at all a death sentence. "It's important for patients not to rush out and quit their jobs or break up relationships because they may be able to live a full life with manageable symptoms," Rosalind Kalb, of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, told ABC News.
While there is no cure, recent years have brought better drugs to slow the progression of MS, like the beta interferons class of medications, which include Avonex, Betaseron, Extavia and Rebif. Other drugs may also alter the course of the disease, and reduce symptom attacks and manage symptoms when they do occur.
The NMSS urges people to think carefully before making a decision of whether or not to continue working after their diagnosis. Because the onset of symptoms or the diagnosis itself can color one's judgment, they say it's best to wait a bit, since many people continue working for years after their MS begins. They offer information about when and if to reveal the diagnosis to one's employer, and how to best cope with the symptoms that one does experience.
Early diagnosis is crucial with MS, so that treatments can be started as soon as possible, giving the person living with the disease the best quality of life.
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