Multiple Sclerosis is believed to be an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system and disrupts the ability of the nerves to conduct electrical impulses to and from the brain.

Thirty people in Bermuda are known to have been diagnosed with MS, but it is thought the number of people with the condition could be three times higher.

There is no cure for the disease, but there are treatments that can reduce its effects.

These are some of the common symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis:

l Fatigue, weakness, spasticity, balance problems, bladder and bowel problems, numbness, vision loss, tremors and depression.

l Not all symptoms affect all MS patients. No two persons necessarily have the same complaints and no one develops all of the symptoms.

l Symptoms may be persistent or may cease from time to time. Most patients have episodic patterns of attacks and remissions throughout the disease course.

Symptoms may remit completely, leaving no residual damage, or partially leaving degrees of permanent impairment. Because the symptoms that define the clinical picture of MS are the result of nerve lesions causing disturbances in electrical conduction in one or more areas of the central nervous system (CNS), the nature of the symptoms that occur is determined by the location of the lesion.

For example, an optic nerve lesion may cause blurred vision; a brain stem lesion may cause dizziness or double vision; a spinal cord lesion may cause coordination or balance problems.

For more information visit http://www.msfacts.org/info/info_symptoms.html