Health Watch is a Public Service of the Office of News and Publications and is intended to provide general information only and should not replace the advice of a medical professional. You should contact your physician if you have questions about any of these topics.
This week on Health Watch, we’re talking about conditions that affect the nervous system. Multiple sclerosis, or MS, is an autoimmune disease in which the protective covering around nerves becomes damaged. The disease causes such a wide variety of symptoms that many people may ignore early attacks.
Dr. Anjali N. Shah, who leads MS neurorehabilitation in the Multiple Sclerosis Clinical Center at UT Southwestern Medical Center, says this means patients might not get treatment during the very important early stages. Symptoms to be aware of include blurred vision, fatigue, numbness, tingling in the arms or legs, double vision, bowel or bladder dysfunction and difficulty thinking. Doctors should consider MS as a possibility if patients have any of these symptoms. About 350,000 people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with MS.
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March 2007
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