Every source I have read has stated that MS is NOT considered a fatal disease in and of itself. The NMSS states that it is not fatal except in rare cases. People with MS pretty much have the same life expectancy as everyone else.

Recently someone made a comment that his friend had to retire because (paraphrased) his doctor told him that if he didn't retire, the stress would soon cause him to die of MS.

I'm trying to decide if somebody was exaggerating, if somebody misinterpreted something, or if the person in question is one of those "rare cases"? Surely there's a piece of the puzzle missing.

I guess my concern is that misinformation is getting passed along that could lead people to believe that MS is a fatal disease.

Sure, MS could cause me to lose my balance and bonk my head, or I could develop other conditions due to inactivity, etc. But I've always reassured my family that MS is not fatal, and I'll be around to harrass them for a long time.

I would call this, at the very least, misinformation and/or a Doctor who is not familiar with MS.

If stress caused a person with MS to die I should have been gone a long time ago

MS can be fataL, the MS community have lost their fair share through the years. However, unless you kow the exact circumstances there is no way to know if it was a direct result of MS, a complication of MS or if the person had another health problem that contributed to their death.

I didn't think MS could be a direct cause. I thought complications from MS could lead to death. For example optic Neuritis might cause you to have problems with your sight that might cause you to have a fatal accident. The optic Neuritis might be caused by MS therefore attributed to MS but death not directly caused by MS, at least I think.

Maybe that doctor will die of stress or just deserve to.

My guess is the doctor did not say this at all. The patient interpreted something the doc said and exaggerated the statement. Stress is bad for M.S. and therefore the patient passed along this information as a much worse scenario.

I remember reading one that the actual life expectancy for someone with MS is approximately 7 years less than your estimated life expectancy. I can not remember where I read that now.

I think he probably meant that repeated relapses from stress could cause things that lead to death. If someone responds to stress with bad relapses it causes loss of brain and spine matter eventually and as a result you could die if it affected your breathing or other important body functions.

MS can affect life sustaining functions such as breathing and swallowing

The years I have been on MS forums I have read about many deaths of those with MS. Some of those deaths have been in their very early 20s. It is so heartbreaking when a mother posts the death of her child or a mother googles her son's username and finds the threads/post he has written and lets members know he has passed on.

Death due to complications, a direct result of the disease, suicide or due to some other unrelated health issue --- Life with this disease is not easy.

There is a form of MS called "Malignant Multiple Sclerosis" that is fatal.

I have also read about a form of MS that has unusual brain lesions that have rings around them that are characteristic of a severe form of MS.

http://www.msinfowiki.ca/index.php?title=Malignant_MS

jackD

My strength for breathing in is 60% of normal and breathing out is 16% of normal. I tend to choke when trying to swallow, which I've gotten used to and usually try to avoid eating in public because of it.

But Saturday night at the awards banquet I had one that scared me pretty bad. I tried to swallow a bite and it got stuck in my throat, I tried several times to swallow and was about ten seconds from letting my husband know what was going on. I was trying to keep calm and see if I could get it to go down on my own though, I did it yay!

I guess if I couldn't I was in the perfect place for it though. I had my DH who is an EMT, next to him was another, around the room were several more, a paramedic was there and in the parking lot was the rescue rig with their medical equipment I know it's not funny, but if I don't laugh at my issues I would cry.

I tell my family it's not fatal, I don't want them to worry. My hubby understands the breathing and swallowing issues though.