Signs of multiple sclerosis

Pediatrician Wendy Mitchell, MD Neurology, shares advice for parents on the signs and symptoms of multiple sclerosis in children
Multiple Sclerosis In Children - Signs And Symptoms
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Signs of multiple sclerosis

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MS is Multiple Sclerosis. Multiple Sclerosis is an immune mediated disease of the nervous system, when the patient's own immune system is attacking something called myelin. Myelin is essentially, the insulation on the nerves. So the nerves are like a wiring system. It goes between the switches in your brain and the lightbulbs. In between are the nerves. Those nerves are coated with something called myelin. When your body attacks the myelin and makes holes in it or scrapes some off the nerves in the nervous system, it does it repeatedly. That's called Multiple Sclerosis. Now, the problem is that you have nerves all throughout your body. The attack from MS can really be anyplace in the central nervous system. The brain, the eyes or the spinal cord. The ongoing systems have to do with where the specific attack is. For example, someone might have visual symptoms. One eye goes blind or blurry. Not just blurry like you need glasses, but blurry like the colors fade. You can have a spinal cord lesion as the first symptom. Someone becomes numb and weak from the waist down. All of those can be symptoms of MS. All of those can also be symptoms of other things.

Pediatrician Wendy Mitchell, MD Neurology, shares advice for parents on the signs and symptoms of multiple sclerosis in children

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Wendy Mitchell, MD

Pediatrician, Neurology, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Wendy Mitchell, MD, is Professor of Clinical Neurology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California. She is acting Division Head of Neurology at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, where she has practiced for over 30 years. She is a native of Los Angeles. Her current research interests include cognitive and behavioral aspects of childhood epilepsy, clinical research in anticonvulsants, and a rare immune-mediated syndrome, opsoclonus-myoclonus (or dancing eyes syndrome). In her free time she enjoys scuba diving and yoga.

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