Exactly why someone develops multiple sclerosis (MS) isn’t known. It’s not caused by anything you’ve done and it’s not clear whether it can be prevented.
What is known so far suggests it’s caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors.
What happens in MS
MS is an autoimmune condition, which means your immune system mistakes part of your body for a foreign substance and attacks it.
In the case of MS, it attacks the myelin sheath in the brain and/or spinal cord. This is the layer that surrounds your nerves, protecting them and helping electrical signals travel from the brain to the rest of the body.
The attacks cause the myelin sheath to become inflamed in small patches (plaques or lesions), which can be seen on amagnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan.
These patches of inflammation can disrupt the messages travelling along the nerves. It can slow them…
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Brain disorders & other General topics of the day 