Overview On The Damage Caused By Multiple Sclerosis

To better understand MS, a person should know at first what the central nervous system (CNS) is.

The CNS is composed of the brain and the spinal cord and it's filled with nerve cells (neurons, the most used of the brain cells).

The neurons are of different kinds, depending on what area of the CNS are they located in. the neurons of the white matter tissues are the mostly damaged when the MS appears. They are long, thin cells with a bulbous head which contains the nucleus and the axon. Several branched tendrils called dendrites grow out from the head of the neuron, the some.

Synapse represents the junction of the dendrites of a neuron to the axon of another; this is the way signals and impulses of the nerves are transmitted via neurotransmitters. The axon is protected by myelin, an insulating fatty protein that helps to transmit the message.

The axon's maintenance cells are called oligodendrocytes and they create and repair the myelin sheath and nourish the axon with essential factors. Every one of these cells maintains several axons, and each axon is connected to more than one oligodendrocyte.

These cells belong to the group of glial cells; at certain point, multiple sclerosis is the disease of oligodendrocytes.

How does MS act on CNS

When MS is active, leucocytes are brought to the white matter where they generate the inflammatory response. When this occurs, the myelin is stripped from the axons through a process called demyelination. When this occurs, the process of transmission of the information takes place slower and slower, or is even blocked. Communication is lost.

Moreover, the inflammation gets to the axonal membrane and damages this sophisticated formation that makes the nerve transmission possible.

It is not the only structure damaged by the inflammation, which also kills the maintenance glial cells, especially oligodendrocytes. When MS lesions become chronic, there is almost none of them left, or at least these were the predominant theories.

Nowadays, the results of some experiences defy this model. It is a fact that inflammation causes oligodendrocytes' end in sclerosis but which comes first? Is the death of oligodendrocytes caused by inflammation or the inflammation is caused by the oligodendrocytes' death or do they both have a viral cause.

Recent research effectuated on the brains of death people with early stages of MS prove that inflammation is preceded by the death of oligodendrocytes. But this was a very small study. Although most of the people think that MS is caused by inflammation, the proof for the results of such studies would produce a revolution in the research related to MS, because it would deny to the disease its autoimmune character.

During the progress of the disease, the axons are destroyed too. But the inflammation may not be the only possible cause for this phase. In the secondary – progressive MS, the axons continue to die although inflammation is less and less common. This death of the axons is called Wallerian Degeneration.

One theory claims that the axons death is caused by the death of oligodendrocytes that used to feed them the essential factors. The most important such factor is Insulin – like Growth Factor – 1 (IGF – 1). Experiments prove that its absence is lethal for the axons. There is another factor, BDNF that has also a role in Wallerian Degeneration. The insufficiency of brain derived neuthroscopic factor also causes a series of central nervous system disorders, such as Parkinson's disease and Motor Neuron disease. The irony is that when a person does exercises this factor is usually released.

The new MRI techniques diagnosed cases of Wallerian disease that haven't been identified by means of traditional techniques.

All these factors and processes make a great deal of contribution to the symptoms of MS. Each of inflammation, oligodendrocytes death, demyelination, membranal damage, and axonal death contribute to the symptoms of MS.

What causes the headaches in MS

Research has shown that headaches occur much more often in people with MS than in healthy people. They are not the main specific symptom of sclerosis because they are not persistent. Still they are among the first factors that indicate sclerosis. The pain is caused by sclerosis directly or by means of the symptoms.

There are some explanations for the presence of headaches in MS:

Treatment of headaches

Depending on the cause, several treatments are available for this condition. If the headache was caused by trigeminal neuralgia or tonic spasms, a doctor may give carbamazepine or anticonvulsants. If the cause of the pain is another, located in the neck or in the back there are no medical treatments.