Question: what is mainly effected in people with neurological disorders such as multiple sclerosis?

Asked by keely1616 to Bev, Posty, Edward, Kate, Nathan on 21 Jun 2011.

0

  1. Photo: Kate PattersonKate Patterson
    answered on 21 Jun 2011:

    Hi keely1616

    There are lots of different neurological disorders and each of them have slightly different causes. MS for example affects the sheath around the long nerve cells. The long part of a nerve cell is called the actin fibre and these actin fibres are coated in a sheath called myelin.

    In MS, the myelin sheath becomes thin or gets lost completely.

    This myelin sheath acts a little like the plastic covering of your electricity wires. If the covering was not there, the electricity would not be as directed and it might not get to its target at all. That’s what happens in MS – the nerve message does not reach its target so the patient feels numbness, or tingling.

    Scientists are working really hard to try to find a way to stop the myelin sheath from getting lost in MS patients and there are new injections and even tablets that are being trialled.

    0

Comments

  1. Photo: keely1616keely1616
    commented on 22 Jun 2011:

    Thanks a lot for that 🙂

    0