Relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis is the most common form of MS, with symptoms that come and go. MS causes nerve degeneration, inflammation in the myelin sheath, and nerve damage. Symptoms can vary in intensity and include weakness, muscle spasms, and emotional outbursts. Diagnosis is made through medical tests, and treatment includes disease-modifying drugs and corticosteroids. Other forms of MS include secondary progressive and primary progressive.
Relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis is the most common form of multiple sclerosis or multiple sclerosis. Patients with this type of multiple sclerosis typically develop symptoms that disappear during a remission phase and return later during a relapse phase. Phases of remission can last for weeks, years or even decades. The number of cycles of relapse and remission usually varies from patient to patient.
Multiple sclerosis is a medical condition that causes a person’s nerves in the brain and spinal cord to degenerate. Patients with this condition develop inflammation in the myelin sheath that covers the nerves. The myelin sheath erodes and disappears as a result of this inflammation, and the transmission of electrical signals in the affected nerves often becomes significantly slower. Nerve damage occurs as multiple sclerosis worsens and patients generally have difficulty with daily functions such as speaking, walking and writing, as well as vision and memory.
Patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis can experience a variety of symptoms that can be mild, moderate, or severe in intensity. Weakness of the arms and legs, muscle spasms and visual disturbances have been reported in some cases of this disease. Patients with multiple sclerosis may notice tremors, dizziness, and a reduction in the kind of physical sensations that people with a healthy nervous system usually experience. In some cases, patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis develop depression, paranoia, and uncontrolled emotional outbursts such as crying or laughing.
Patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis have symptoms that typically increase in severity over time and may not be evaluated by a doctor until months or years after symptoms begin. Doctors usually have patients undergo medical tests to measure the extent of nerve damage caused by multiple sclerosis. MRI tests of the brain often provide detailed pictures of disease progression. An electrophysiologic test measures the speed of nerve impulses, and laboratory analysis of cerebrospinal fluid can identify multiple sclerosis-related antibodies.
Many neurologists treat relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis with disease-modifying drugs to slow the progression of the condition and reduce future relapses. Patients may receive corticosteroid medications to improve pain and other physically disabling symptoms. Some multiple sclerosis patients experience fewer relapses and longer periods of time between relapses when they receive treatment with an interferon drug. Doctors may also prescribe other medications to combat the relapsing and remitting form of multiple sclerosis depending on the individual needs of a specific patient.
Some patients with multiple sclerosis develop other forms of the disease in addition to relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis may develop secondary progressive multiple sclerosis, a form of this disorder that typically includes fewer relapses combined with an increased level of the patient’s physical disability. Patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis usually experience a gradual and continuous decline in their physical abilities without a cycle of remission and relapse. Other forms of the disease generally occur less frequently and can cause unusually mild symptoms or abnormally rapid progression of multiple sclerosis.
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