What we know about Multiple Sclerosis (MS) :
Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory, chronic and often disabling neurological disease that affects only the Central Nervous System (brain and spinal cord).
The disease is thought to be the result of various mechanisms, the most likely of which is immunological, with antibodies and lymphocytes directed against myelin, leading to its permanent destruction.
The clinical symptoms of this disease, which affects twice as many women as men, usually appear between the ages of 15 and 45, and include spasticity, sphincter disorders, pain, tremors, often with an associated depressive syndrome…
Diagnosis is based primarily on neurological examination and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).
The progression that usually leads to permanent disability varies greatly from one person to the next.
In 2013, 2.3 million people around the world were affected, with highly variable prevalence rates.
It is most widespread in North America and Europe, with rates of 140 and 108 cases per 100,000 inhabitants respectively.
In Tunisia, the number of patients is around 5,000 and the incidence is 1.3 per 100,000.
Current treatments, expensive as they are, are essentially aimed at reducing the frequency of relapses, delaying disability and providing the necessary psychological support, but we don't yet have a cure.
What we don't yet know about Multiple Sclerosis (MS) :
- Why does the disease occur in a given person?
- How to repair lesions?
- How to cure the disease?