Introduction

You have been told by a neurologist that you have or may have multiple sclerosis (MS). You have many questions, many of which probably came to you after leaving your neurologist’s office. You wonder what multiple sclerosis is, why you have it and what this diagnosis means to you. In truth, we don’t know why you have MS.

This series of posts is for someone  with MS or for their friends or family members to better understand the basics of MS and how to interact with a neurologist and the U.S. medical system. No one likes to have MS but it is important to learn what is known about MS and its treatment in order to best care for yourself.

My next post discusses MS and how it is diagnosed. Additional posts address: your interaction with your neurologist and how someone with MS is usually followed; MS signs and symptoms; possible outcomes in MS and how they are measured; what can happen with specific types of MS; limitations of  studies done before the use of disease modifying therapy in determining possible outcomes; what is disease modifying therapy and will it work for you?; what are the types of disease modifying therapy and why and when to start it; and, diet, lifestyle, and other things that affect MS.

Future planned posts will cover disease modifying therapy in more detail and what we know about disease modifying therapy and your long term risk of disability.

Terms used in these posts and that are important to an understanding of multiple sclerosis will be defined as they come up but also may be found in the Multiple Sclerosis Glossary. For the sake of simplicity, I have rounded numbers from the literature such as ages or percentages the nearest whole number. Endnotes are used for more detail. References can be located  under MS Patient Blog References.

Other resources for newly diagnosed patients can be found on the websites of the charitable MS organizations both in the United States and other countries. See MS Links  for their contact information.

One excellent book that I have recently reviewed is T Jock Murray MD, MS: A Guide for the newly diagnosed, Fifth Edition, New York, NY, Demos Health 2012. I am sure there are others.

You and your family need to be realistic about what may happen to you in the future but remain hopeful that you will do well. Your goal should be to continue to be the best person you can.

If you have questions about these posts or about MS in general, you may email me at harris.jonathan2@gmail.com. Please do not send any personal medical information as my email and this website are not HIPAA compliant. This means that any information you send me is not confidential and potentially available to anyone in the world.

Jonathan Oren Harris MD – 23 Aug 2020