Wednesday, March 18, 2009

What are Relapses, Exacerbations and Attacks in MS?

ms relapses, ms exacerbations, ms attacks 

Multiple Sclerosis is an autoimmune disorder, where the body attacks itself, as if it is a foreign invader.  The majority of what is attacked and damaged is ms nerves or ms neurons.  The attacks, relapses or exacerbations are all different words for describing what it is called during the periods of time where the body is under attack by whatever is the cause of Multiple Sclerosis.

MS exacerbations, relapses and attacks are pretty much different names for describing the same thing.  Basically ms relapses, attacks and exacerbations are where the myelin sheath on the spinal cord, the Blood Brain Barrier or other nerves throughout the body are damaged, degrading the nerves that are attacked and resulting in scarring in place of the damaged nerve cells.

The result of the ms relapses cause our bodies to show function less than it could before the relapse occurred. The relapses are often followed by some recovery from the loss of function during the relapses, where the body appears to go into remission. MS research is helping us to understand more of the effect of Multiple Sclerosis on the body with relapses being followed by partial or maybe even full recovery of what was lost during the attack.

Triggers to MS relapses. exacerbations and attacks are:

Click on the link to read more - reducing ms relapses.

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