多發性硬化症

One of the difficulties in diagnosing
MS is that early signs can take any number of neurological forms (from
muscle weakness to fatigue and bladder difficulties), and it can either
build gradually or come in "attacks" that go through phases of relapse
and remission. Another difficulty in understanding MS—though the disease
was first described in the mid-1800s—is that there is no consensus as
to what causes it; the prevailing theories suggest a complex, yet not
understood, set of interactions between genetic susceptibility,
environmental exposure, and infectious triggers. Once the disease
progresses it can be devastating; Debbie Purdy, shown here, has become
well known as both a person with MS and a right-to-die advocate.  

診斷多發性硬化症的困難之一是，在早期可能有任意種神經形式的症狀（從肌肉無力到膀胱告急），而且它能夠緩慢潛伏滋長也可以經過復發和緩解階段來直接「進攻」。通過19世紀中葉對該症的初步描述來看，另一個瞭解多發性硬化症的難題是沒有造成病因的唯一原因；當時的理論認為病因是一種複雜的但尚不清楚的綜合作用的結果，其中包括了遺傳易感性，環境暴露和感染髮病源之間的交互作用。一旦疾病發作就是毀滅性的，這裡的圖片顯示了Debbie Purdy，她也是眾說周知的身患多發性硬化症和死亡權力的擁護者。