ncb asked:
After reading dozens of articles about what they do not know, what causes Mutiple Sclerosis to speed up, or causes relapses? Certain life styles? Foods? Drugs? Do any drugs make it speed up or flare up? What is known? Sun is bad, does it cause it to speed up too? NCB
speed reading
Tags: Dozens, Mutiple Sclerosis, Sun
Seems like they don’t know much about MS. The cause of progression in MS is unknown. A relapse can occur if you become over-heated, overly stressed, overly fatigued…or it can just happen. No lifestyles that I’m aware of make a difference in the progression. No foods, either. Supplements that boost your immune system should be avoided, because MS is a disease caused by an “over active” immune stem in the first place. Anything that stimulates your immune system could lead to a new attack or an exacerbation.
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society recommends that people diagnosed with MS begin treating with the “ABC” drugs (Avonex, Betaseron, or Copaxone) as soon as possible. While they do not “cure” MS, they do slow down the progression of the disease and prolong the progression of disability. I provided a link to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society below, as well as the makers of Copaxone’s website.
*Diagnosed May 2005
June 20th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
speed reading
As you know, MS is an autoimmune disease. The immune system is maintained normally by a complex yin-yang network of checks and balances but, in about 20% of the population, there is some form of inbalance and ‘autoimmune’ reaction. There are more than 80 defined ‘autoimmune diseases’ which are acquired through combinations of genetic and (not so well understood) environmental factors.
While every person’s immune system is different, there are some similarities in regard to things which affect immune responses – stress (physical and emotional) being a key one.
Of course, sun and some drugs inflict stress.
With age, our ability to differentiate self from non-self declines as well.
Finally, a proper immune response gets more sophisticated with time – progresses – as do most autoimmune diseases. The rate and extent of progression varies with each person. Even identical twins with MS have different rates of disease progression – so environmental effects are clearly important.