Chapter Two-Section Two Literature Review

2.1.2. Symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

It should be noted that any disease has its own symptoms and signs,
therefore, it is worthily mentioning that the MS has some of the significant
symptoms which should be taken into consideration. The symptoms and
signs of MS might be greatly different from one person to another one.
This kind of differentiation in the symptoms of the disease is reliant on the
affected nerve fibers location. It is also dependent on the amount of the
damaged nerve fibers and which nerves get affected. If the MS was so
severe, people who are infected might be independently or totally disable
to walk, but if it was not, they might experience long remission periods
without any new indicators. This results from the myelin substance
damage. The following figure illustrates the severely damaged myelin
substance of nerve fiber (Butterfield RJ, 1998).

Figure 2. 2. The damaged myelin of nerve fiber.

Chapter Two-Section Two Literature Review

Symptoms of MS are more usually affecting the body movement.

Though MS symptoms are unpredictable and are not similar of its intensity,
people with MS might experience fatigue as well as numbness. However,
there may be severe consequences such as loss of vision, paralysis and
reduced function of the brain. Here are some of the most frequent and
early signs or symptoms of the MS disease (Thompson, et al. 2010).

Firstly, one of the most popular and severe symptoms of MS is

actually the visual problems. Multiple Sclerosis can affect the optical nerve
fibers and as a result, it will disrupt central vision. Therefore, it can lead to
either double vision, vision loss or blurred vision. Immediately, these
vision problems might not be noticed because the degeneration of the
vision clearness can be very slow.

On the one hand, numbness and tingling are actually one of the most
popular symptoms of the MS, where they take place within different parts
of the body including arms, legs, face, and fingers. On the other hand, pain
and spasms are also common symptoms of MS. National Multiple Sclerosis
Society clarified that people with MS may experience chronical pain.
Spasms and stiffness (spasticity) are likewise popular signs of MS. People
with this disease may experience stiff joints or muscles. In addition, the
pain of the back is also frequent(Motl, et al. 2008).

Additionally, weakness and fatigue are one of the common

symptoms of MS. The occurrence of chronical fatigue is traced back to the
deterioration of the nerve fibers in the backbone. Firstly, the most evident
Chapter Two-Section Two Literature Review

weakness is within legs. It is also worthily mentioned that people with MS

may experience dizziness and balance problems. They will feel as if their
surrounding environment is spinning. This symptom is exactly evident
when the infected person is standing up (Matthews, 1998).

Furthermore, dysfunction of bowel and bladder is considered to be

another kind of symptoms that is represented by the recurrent urination and
the disability to keep urine. It should be noted that the cognitive problems
are also common. This may lead to language and memory problems as well
as a difficulty of staying organized. Thus, these symptoms are used to
diagnose MS disease (Hann, et al. 1999).