NEW 'Just Diagnosed' Booklet now available
6th December 2002

For full description and many useful links on MS, click on the MS Society Scotland website link above.

MS is the most common neurological disorder among young adults and affects around 85,000 people in the UK. It is not infectious. People are usually diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 40, or sometimes later. In rare cases, MS has been diagnosed in children. It is more common in women than men – the ratio is 3:2.

MS symptoms result from damage to myelin, the protective coating surrounding all the nerve fibres in the brain, the eye and the spinal cord. Myelin works like insulating cable, helping to conduct messages quickly and efficiently between the brain or spinal cord and the rest of the body. When myelin gets damaged, messages are slower or distorted or do not get through at all. Damaged areas of myelin are known as plaques or lesions.

• No single test is specific to MS, nor conclusive

• There is often a delay between first symptoms and diagnosis

• Some MS symptoms can also point to other conditions

• MS shows up differently in everyone

• Relapses tend to be unpredictable and their causes unclear

• Some people with MS do not have distinct relapses and remissions

• Although some symptoms are very common, there is no typical set that applies to everyone. No single symptom is unique to MS.

• Effective treatments are available for most MS symptoms