Multiple sclerosis is a disease of the central nervous system. It's chronic and often disabling.
Symptoms range from numbness in the limbs to paralysis and loss of vision.
Most persons with MS are diagnosed with the disease between the ages of 20 and 40. Multiple sclerosis can be described as the body attacking itself. The immune system raids the insulation or covering of the nerves extending from the brain and spinal cord. The insulation, called myelin, becomes riddled with holes. These holes impede the transmission of nerve impulses from the central nervous system, leading to numbness, paralysis and possibly organ failure.