Quote:
Originally Posted by Snoopy
MS is not a disease that just affects the brain - MS is a disease of the CNS which is the brain and the spine. MS can and does affect one or both of these areas.
If someone has MS affecting the cervical spine more so than the brain I don't think what your looking for will hold up for MS....JMO.
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You're
right , of course. That is why I said "the big issue" not simply
the issue. I should have made that more clear.
As you know, they used to think that MS was a disease of the myelin itself and now they know it is more of a problem in the oligodendrocytes (that produce the myelin), the highest concentration of which are in the brain. And you're right again, if it involves the
upper motor neurons (those leaving the brain), we will see the left brain disease affecting the right side. If it involves the lower motor neurons (those occuring after the synapse of the upper motor neurons, where the impulse leaves the spine) then it will affect the same side as the damage.
I was going to try to explain much of this after the thread got going (as an explanation for the various responses...for emphasis), but now that you mentioned it....
The answer to my question will be found in both presentations: Those that have both upper and lower extremeties affected on one side (suggesting upper motor neuron damage) and those that have one or both arms or legs involved, suggesting lower motor neurons involved. It's not quite that clear cut, of course, but I am simply looking for trends here.
Thanks for your input
John