What is the course of multiple sclerosis (MS)?

The symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS) can be varied, so it's difficult to diagnose; but early treatment and lifestyle changes can proactively shift the course of the disease. In this video, neurologist Kulreet Chaudhary, MD, explains this concept.

Transcript

00:00

It's a lot like solving a mystery. You have to become a bit of a detective as a physician who's diagnosing people

00:06

with MS because you're putting all the pieces together. [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:15

So the first symptoms of multiple sclerosis can be almost anything. And this can be one of the most frustrating things

00:23

about diagnosing multiple sclerosis because it could be from a little bit of dizziness to a little bit of blurred vision

00:29

or a little bit of tingling somewhere in the body or sometimes even severe fatigue or headaches. And so what's important is when somebody

00:37

has a strong neurological symptom to look at what are their risk factors for multiple sclerosis and then doing the appropriate diagnostic tests.

00:45

But it's a lot like solving a mystery. You have to become a bit of a detective as a physician who's diagnosing people with MS because you're

00:53

putting all the pieces together, and you finally have a full picture of, yes, this does fit all the criteria for multiple sclerosis.

01:01

And when I was trained in neurology, I was trained in very specific courses that people have in multiple sclerosis, either

01:08

a relapsing/remitting course or a benign course or more of a progressive course. But what I have found in the last decade of treating

01:16

MS patients is that if we intervene early on and start making lifestyle changes for reducing

01:23

inflammation, start making changes in terms of their stress level, you can very proactively change the course of this disease.

01:31

And it's nothing that I was trained as a neurologist and something that I watched patients over a decade basically defy everything that I was taught about this disease.

01:39

So what I tell my patients is, look, this is a very unpredictable condition. But there are things that we can do to just make you healthier.

01:47

And if one of the byproducts is possibly changing the course of this disease, fantastic.