To prove it, he climbed Mount Scenery, a peak on the island of Saba in the West Indies that has more than 1,000 stony steps cut into its steep side. I wouldn't have been able to do that earlier. Multiple Sclerosis is a progressive disease caused by the gradual destruction of the myelin sheath that surrounds the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Symptoms range from numbness and tingling to paralysis and incontinence. Symptoms may be active briefly and then resume years later.
Attacks vary considerably in severity and frequency from person to person.
The condition has strong genetic association since relatives of affected people are eight times more likely than others to contract the disease. Also, women are slightly more at risk of having MS than men. Sixty percent female versus forty percent male. About two-thirds of MS cases have an onset between ages 20 and 40. The demyelination that occurs in MS has also been seen to be caused by certain viral infections, although a viral cause for MS is still highly debated.