Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most widespread disabling neurological condition of young adults around the world and the most common autoimmune disorder affecting the central nervous system. The disease damages the nerves in the spinal cord and brain, as well as the optic nerves. Depending on where the specific damage occurs, symptoms may include problems with muscle control, balance, vision, or speech. MS can be contracted at any age, but most people are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 40.

There is no cure for MS, nor do researchers yet fully understand what causes the disease. On the up side, many people with MS do not become severely disabled and most have a normal or near-normal lifespan.

Here's what happens inside the body of someone with MS: His own immune system attacks the myelin – the fatty covering – in various places (the “multiple”) along the nerve fibers that comprise the brain, spinal and optic network. As the myelin is destroyed, scar tissue forms (that's the “sclerosis”). The scarring interferes with the normal neural messaging along these networks.

When diagnosing you for MS, your doctor will use magnetic image resonance to look for that scar tissue – it shows up in the MRIs of more than 90 percent of people with MS. A spinal tap, allowing for a check of any abnormalities in your spinal fluid, may also be prescribed.

There are four general forms in which MS will typically manifest:

· Relapsing-remitting: Symptoms flare during acute attacks, then improve nearly completely;

· Primary-progressive: MS slowly but steadily worsens;

· Secondary-progressive: Begins as relapsing-remitting type, then becomes progressive;

· Progressive-relapsing: The underlying disease steadily worsens. The patient has acute relapses, which may or may not remit.

Medicine currently cannot cure MS, but we can often slow down its progression. MS sufferers may be prescribed certain drugs which can reduce the frequency and severity of the attacks, which in turn diminishes the damage to the brain and nerve network over time. Intermittent attacks of MS can often be cut short via the administration of high-dose corticosteroids.

Mostly, dealing MS means managing its symptoms. Your doctor will likely prescribe antidepressants, anti-convulsants, pain relievers, and/or anti-spasm drugs to combat the combination of neural and muscular pain that MS typically doles out.