CONTENTS

Introduction: A New Look at a Well-Worn Road . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

PART ONE: THE JOURNEY BEGINS

Chapter One: What Is Multiple Sclerosis—and Why Did It

Happen to Me? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Chapter Two: The Home of MS:

The Central Nervous System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Chapter Three: When Good Becomes Evil:

The Role of the Immune System in MS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

PART TWO: THE HIGHWAY SIGNS

Chapter Four: Reading the Signs: Early Symptoms of MS . . . . .51

Chapter Five: Making a Turn: Later Symptoms of MS . . . . . . . .63

Chapter Six: The Different Roads MS Can Take:

A Clinical Course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77

Chapter Seven: Making the Diagnosis: You Have MS . . . . . . . . .87

PART THREE: THE WINDING ROAD

Chapter Eight: Powerful Medicine at Work: Acute Care

and the “ABC + R” Disease-Modifying Drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . .105

Chapter Nine: Why Rehabilitation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135

Chapter Ten: Mobility in MS: Walking, Spasticity, Weakness,

Tremors, and More . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .153

Chapter Eleven: Fatigue: Why You Feel Tired

and What You Can Do About It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .183

vii
viii MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS: A NEW JOURNEY

Chapter Twelve: Fighting Depression: MS and Your

Emotional Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .199

Chapter Thirteen: Living with Bladder and

Bowel Dysfunction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .225

PART FOUR: THE RIDE HOME

Chapter Fourteen: The Activities of Daily Living . . . . . . . . . . .255

Chapter Fifteen: Alternative Therapy: Does It Work? . . . . . . .273

Chapter Sixteen: MS and Your Family, Your Job, and

the World at Large . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .295

Epilogue: Living Successfully with Multiple Sclerosis . . . . . . . .315

Appendix: Names, Addresses, and Websites of Helpful

Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .317

Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .325

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .331