Patients who have MS have immune systems that attack myelin, a fatty substance that surrounds and insulates nerve fibers, as well as attacking the nerves themselves. As a result, the myelin forms scar tissue, called sclerosis, which can distort or interrupt the nerve impulses traveling to and from the brain and spinal cord, resulting in a range of symptoms.
Diagnosing the Disease
Because there is no single test for the disease, and because no two patients exhibit the same symptoms or severity of symptoms, this disease is also often difficult to diagnose. In fact, one patient will have varied and unpredictable symptoms, which will change over time. Among the symptoms that are common for MS patients, people who develop MS may experience:
● Fatigue
● Numbness and tingling in the face, torso or limbs
● Muscle weakness
● Dizziness or vertigo
● Spasticity or stiffness and involuntary muscle spasms in the extremities (most commonly in the legs)
● Bladder or bowel problems
● Walking (gait) difficulty
● Vision problems, including blurred vision, poor contrast or color vision
● Cognitive changes, including difficulty learning or remembering new information, organizing and problem solving, difficulty with focus, and difficulty accurately perceiving their environments
● Emotional changes, including bouts of depression or clinical depression, mood swings, irritability, and episodes of uncontrollable laughing or crying
Understanding the Risk Factors
Because MS is not a disease the healthcare community reports, exact figures on patients living with MS are unknown, but this disease affects at least 2.3 million people worldwide. The cause of this disease is still largely unknown, but there are several risk factors that have been identified, including:
Gender: MS is at least two to three times more common in women than men, suggesting that hormones may play a significant role in susceptibility to MS.
Age: Most people experience the onset of MS symptoms and receive a diagnosis between the ages of 20 and 50, although the illness can strike young children and older adults.
Ethnicity: MS strikes patients of almost all races and ethnicities, but is most common in people of Caucasian or Northern European ancestry. Interestingly, MS is almost unheard of in some populations, including the Inuit, Hungarian Romani, Australian Aborigines and New Zealanders.
Geography: Research suggests that MS is more common in areas that are farthest away from the equator, and that risk changes based on geography, rather than ancestry.
Genetics: If you have a family history of MS -- specifically, if a parent or sibling has MS, you are at a greater risk of developing the disease yourself.
The Role of Nutrition in MS
Nutrition plays a large role in both preventing the onset of, and managing the symptoms of many illnesses. Research suggests that vitamin deficiencies may be linked to MS, although whether these deficiencies are causative or ancillary has yet to be determined.
Vitamin D Deficiency Found in Half of MS Patients
New research in 2014, presented at the annual meeting for the American Association of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM), shows that vitamin D deficiency is surprisingly prevalent among patients who have been diagnosed with MS, as well as patients who suffer from other neuromuscular conditions. Of patients who participated in the study, nearly half were vitamin D-deficient, and only 14 percent had above “normal” levels of vitamin D.
Per one of the authors of the study, “While the connection between vitamin D deficiency and neurologic disorders is likely complex and not yet fully understood, this study may prompt physicians to consider checking vitamin D levels in their patients…and supplementing when necessary.”
This research seems to support the results of a 2011 study conducted by the University of Oxford, which suggested that -- while MS is caused by several factors working in combination -- that there is a correlation between the body’s deficient levels of vitamin D and its ability to respond when faced with infection. This may also explain why distance from the equator is one of the risk factors for MS.
A study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health, published in 2013, found that vitamin D intake during the early stages of the disease has a statistically significant influence over the long-term course of the disease -- including reduced MS activity and slowed disease progression.
Vitamin B12 Deficiency Has Been Linked to MS Patients
Studies have suggested that there is a significantly higher rate of vitamin B12 deficiency in patients with MS than in the general population, which may be due to problems with binding and transporting the vitamin. Vitamin B12 deficiency can actually, in and of itself, cause MS-like symptoms, including fatigue, depression and memory impairment. They can also suffer damage to the myelin sheath that protects the nerve fibers or to the underlying axon because vitamin B12 is responsible for myelin health, by helping the body metabolize the fatty acids responsible for their maintenance.
While no large-scale studies have yet been conducted to find conclusive evidence of a link between vitamin B12 deficiency and increased severity of symptoms or symptom onset, one small study showed a small but statistically insignificant benefit to taking vitamin B12 supplements.
Fatty Acids
Studies have also shown that adding polyunsaturated fats to the diet - specifically an omega-6 fatty acid, linoleum acid, may be linked to slowing the progression of the disease. Oleic acid, or olive oil, has been linked to the reduction in severity of an animal model of MS. While research has shown that there is a decrease in the rate of deterioration with linoleum acid supplementation, test subjects were those with minimal or no disability at the beginning of the study, and no large-scale studies have been conducted.