2023-12-11 11:02:00
A recent study, published in the journal Neurology, revealed that some symptoms of multiple sclerosis can be associated with a person 5 years before it is diagnosed. This can help diagnose the disease early, even before the effects are clearly visible on an MRI.
Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system. When infected with the disease, the immune system destroys the myelin that covers nerve fibers and causes communication problems between the brain and the rest of the body.
So we are talking about an autoimmune disease, where the immune system is supposed to protect the body against the causes of the disease (virus – bacteria), but on the contrary, it attacks the body’s own compounds. Multiple sclerosis is considered the second local cause of disability in France in young people, according to what was published on the website Topsante.
This recent study came to help detect the disease early, even before symptoms and neurological lesions appear on an MRI. We know very well that the lesions caused by multiple sclerosis cannot be cured or improved, but we can slow the disease and its progression.
The presence of the disease in a hidden form
Many studies have shown that some symptoms appear in some patients with multiple sclerosis even 10 years before the disease is diagnosed. While some scientists talk about a “prodromal stage” or preceding the disease, by which we mean that the disease is present in a hidden form. Also, a better understanding of the initial symptoms of MS could help researchers determine the exact time when the inflammatory process of central nervous system lesions begins.
Unexpected symptoms that may herald multiple sclerosis
In this regard, Professor Céline Le Bar, a neurologist at Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital and responsible for the Clinical Investigation Center at the Cervoux Institute in Paris, compared health data for 20,174 patients who had multiple sclerosis, compared to 54,790 patients who did not have the disease, 37,814 patients suffering from two immune diseases, in addition to 30,477 patients. They suffer from Crohn’s disease and 7,337 suffer from lupus.
Accordingly, the team focused on the recurrence of 113 symptoms and ongoing diseases over the past five years. The researchers noted that 5 symptoms were significantly linked to multiple sclerosis:
* Depression
* Sexual disorders
* Constipation
* Cystitis
* Urinary tract infections
This association was statistically strong, confirming our ability to identify early clinical signs that may be related to the nervous system.
In the case of patients who would later be diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, according to Professor Céline Loubar, these symptoms continued to be overrepresented and even increased during the five years following diagnosis.
It is true that these signs alone are not sufficient to make an early diagnosis, but they certainly allow improving the mechanisms of multiple sclerosis, the causes of which are many and varied. However, new data support the idea that the disease begins before the classic neurological symptoms even begin.
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