6 Myths About Multiple Sclerosis - Find out if you Know the Facts

Myth: MS is easy to diagnosis

Fact: Diagnosis of MS is often very difficult. As the nerves are involved, symptoms vary significantly from person to person depending on which nerves are attacked by the immune system and how badly they are damaged.

Myth: Women with MS can not get pregnant.

Fact: Multiple sclerosis is not thought to impair infertility or cause higher rates of stillbirth, miscarriage, premature delivery or eclampsia.

Myth: Only old people get MS.

Fact: Diagnosis of MS is usually between 20 and 40 years of age. Among young adults, MS is the most common disease of the central nervous system.

Myth: MS is inherited.

Fact: MS is not contagious, inherited or genetically transmitted, although there does seem to be some genetic susceptibility to the disease. Nobody knows for sure why some people get MS and others don’t.

Myth: MS significantly alters your lifespan.

Fact: MS is not a death sentence. About 45 percent of people with MS are not severely affected by the disease, however, the course of the disease is unpredictable and no two people will experience the same set of symptoms.