Researchers have found there are five different types of illnesses which may be experienced in multiple sclerosis patients up to a number of years before they even get a diagnosis.
The study found constipation, urinary tract infections, bladder infections, depression and sexual issues could be potential ailments suffered by someone may have undiagnosed MS. Dr Celine Louapre, from Sorbonne University in Paris, said: “Of course, not everyone who has these symptoms will go on to develop MS.”
The findings were published in the medical journal, Neurology. Dr Louapre added all four are 'common' and 'could also be signs of other diseases'. Multiple sclerosis is a neurological condition, which affects your nervous system. Your immune system normally protects you by fighting off infection, but in MS it attacks your nerves by mistake.
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A substance called myelin protects the nerve fibres in the central nervous system, which helps messages travel between the brain and the rest of the body. With MS, your immune system, which normally helps to fight off infections, mistakes myelin for a foreign body and attacks it.
This damages the myelin and strips it off the nerve fibres, either slightly or completely, leaving scars known as lesions or plaques. This damage disrupts messages travelling along nerve fibres – they can slow down, become distorted, or not get through at all.
According to the MS Society, more than 130,000 people in the UK have MS. In the UK, people are most likely to find out they have MS in their thirties, forties and fifties.
However, the first signs of MS often start years earlier. Many people notice their first symptoms years before they get their diagnosis.
Dr Louapre said this new information may be helpful for those who are at high risk of developing MS. The researchers analysed data of 20,000 patients in the UK and France who were newly diagnosed with MS.
The results stated MS patients were 22% more likely to have depression in the five years before their condition was confirmed, compared to those who did not have MS. Patents were also 50% more likely to have constipation, while the risk of UTIs (38%), sexual problems (37%) and bladder infections (21%) were also higher. Individuals with a diagnosis of MS were compared to individuals without MS, and individuals with two other auto-immune diseases, Crohn’s disease and lupus.
The NHS listed the most common symptoms of MS include:
- fatigue
- vision problems
- numbness and tingling
- muscle spasms, stiffness and weakness
- mobility problems
- pain
- problems with thinking, learning and planning
- depression and anxiety
- sexual problems
- bladder problems
- bowel problems
- speech and swallowing difficulties
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