Multiple Sclerosis Life Expectancy and Prognosis

Multiple sclerosis can be diagnosed in many patients. When this disease is developed patients experience vision changes, difficulty walking, problems coordinating body movements, as well as muscle weakness. Loss of sensation is another common symptom of this cruel disease. However, an important thing people should know is that MS is not a fatal condition. In many cases, patients have been able to overcome all its symptoms, fast and efficiently, with the use of certain treatments for multiple sclerosis.

In fact, specialists claim that the multiple sclerosis life expectancy is the same as the one of healthy individuals. However, it is important to know that predicting the course of this condition is almost impossible as doctors cannot say how the condition will evolve. Even though in most cases patients have a normal life expectancy, there are also situations in which premature death occurs due to the development of several complications.
Some studies have indicated that people who have few attacks in the early years after the diagnosis of MS, have bigger changes to a normal life expectancy.

Multiple sclerosis life expectancy is better when patients experience few symptoms and attacks, when they recover completely after an attack, as well as when symptoms are not very disturbing. On the other hand, people who experience severe symptoms such as tremor, difficulty walking, as well as frequent attacks, are most likely to develop certain complications due to multiple sclerosis. Specialists claim that there are 4 main courses of this disease.

• The relapsing-remitting course is commonly characterized by a partial or total recovery after an attack. Actually, this is the most common form of multiple sclerosis. Most people recover easily after such an attack.
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  The secondary progressive MS is formed when MS becomes steadily progressive. Partial recoveries occur after an attack.
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  Primary-progressive course is formed from onset, without any attacks. About 10 percent of all patients are diagnosed in this phase.
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  Progressive-relapsing phase is quite rare, as it occurs only in few cases. It involves acute attacks.

As already mentioned, the course of this disease cannot be predicted. This means that patients can go on for years with absolutely no signs of MS progression. In many cases, treatment can slow down the progress of the disease. Early treatment is known to make a huge difference on this aspect.

Multiple sclerosis is not contagious and the condition is not fatal. People diagnosed with this disease can live for years, with no risks. However, there are also cases in which patients develop complications such as heart disease, cancer and even stroke. Multiple sclerosis deeply affects the quality of life of all patients, so every person diagnosed with this condition has to look for an adequate treatment as soon as possible.