Understanding the Cognitive Impacts of Multiple Sclerosis

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Understanding the Cognitive Impacts of Multiple
Sclerosis
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• Approximately 2.8 million people around the world
  are currently living with multiple sclerosis
  (MS), yet there is still no known cure for the
  disease. One reason MS is so hard to pin down is
  that it manifests differently in every person,
  causing various combinations of symptoms in some
  and remaining clinically silent in others even
  as the disease worsens.
• As with many other diseases that affect
  cognition, there is often a lag between when MS
  begins to develop and when it is diagnosed.
• What Is Multiple Sclerosis?
• MS is a disease of the central nervous system
  (CNS), which comprises the brain, spinal cord,
  and optic nerves. For reasons that are not yet
  understood, MS causes the immune system to attack
  the CNS, damaging the myelin sheath that protects
  the nerve fibers that enable communication
  between the CNS and the rest of the body. In
  advanced cases, the nerve fibers themselves
  become damaged.
• Sites of demyelination and fiber damage are known
  as lesions, and if the damage becomes permanent,
  they turn into scar tissue, or plaque. MS
  progression is affected variously by the size,
  location, and number of these sites.

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• MS Disease Progression
• The majority of MS cases are relapse remitting,
  which means that symptoms flare up for a period
  of time and then recede. A person with this form
  of MS may experience symptom-free periods of up
  to several years. Relapse-remitting MS can either
  remain episodic or evolve into a more serious,
  chronic condition known as secondary-progressive
  MS.
• Symptoms of MS may include, but are not limited
  to
• Bladder or bowel dysfunction
• Changes in sexual response
• Cognitive issues (e.g., difficulty learning or
  remembering information)
• Fatigue
• Difficulty walking
• Dizziness or vertigo
• Dysthesesia (feeling of being squeezed around the
  torso)
• Involuntary muscle spasms
• Loss of balance or coordination
• Mood swings or depression
• Numbness or tingling in parts of the body
• Pain or itching
• Slurred speech
• Tremors
• Weakness

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• How is MS Diagnosed?
• There are currently no conclusive standalone
  tests that can diagnose MS. Instead, differential
  diagnosisin which diseases with symptoms that
  resemble MS are ruled outis typically pursued.
  Currently, MS diagnosis also requires evidence of
  damage to at least two parts of the CNS that
  occurred during different time periods (e.g.,
  during two different relapses of
  relapse-remitting type).
• Current diagnostic methods include
• A thorough review of the patients medical
  history and a neurological exam
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to scan the CNS
  for MS lesions
• Lumbar puncture to test cerebrospinal fluid for
  proteins commonly associated with MS
• Blood tests to rule out other diseases with
  symptoms similar to MS
• Frustratingly for researchers and those living
  with the disease alike, MS is often a moving
  target. Relapse-remitting MS in particular can be
  tricky to catch, with symptoms surfacing,
  receding, and changing over time. Repeat testing
  is often required to detect the presence of
  lesions or changes in their number, position, or
  size that can help doctors diagnose MS or
  pinpoint MS type.

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• New testing methods that can discover the
  presence of MS through a single procedure rather
  than through the process of elimination or repeat
  testing, are sorely needed.
• Understanding MS-Related Cognitive Dysfunction
• Cognitive changes are some of the first symptoms
  to develop in the early stages of MS, but their
  initial manifestations are often minor and
  therefore overlooked. While MS does not typically
  affect long-term memory, overall intellect,
  reading comprehension, or conversational skill,
  several other cognitive functions may be
  impaired. Common cognitive effects of MS include
• Brain fog, or a general feeling of confusion,
  forgetfulness, or tuning out
• Difficulty finding words
• Difficulty paying attention (especially to more
  than one thing at once)
• Executive function challenges (e.g., prioritizing
  tasks)
• Limited spatial awareness
• Short-term memory problems
• Cognitive changes typically develop gradually,
  however, so they are often undetected until MS
  has progressed significantly. A person may have
  few or no physical symptoms, yet under the
  surface, their cognitive symptoms may have
  advanced markedly. As with many other diseases
  that impact cognition, early diagnosis is
  critical to improving an MS prognosis. But the
  lack of preventive, affordable cognitive health
  screenings in our present healthcare model
  prevents us from harnessing valuable data that
  could change the lives of those living with the
  disease. ViewMind is working to change all that.

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• Plumbing Cognitive Impacts for Clues
• To date, there is no cure for MS. However, early
  detection and intervention can vastly improve
  disease prognosis, with many medications and
  treatments now available that can halt or slow
  the progression of the disease in its early
  stages. Thus at ViewMind, weve turned the lens
  of our novel eye-tracking technology on MS to see
  what clues to its pathology we might find.
• In a recent study presented at ECTRIMS2022 in
  Amsterdam, 40 MS patients, completed the ViewMind
  Atlas 15-minute assessment, using virtual reality
  headsets in a two-phase test related to the
  sequencing of visual stimuli. As the patients
  performed the tasks, we monitored their eye
  movement patterns, discovering key differences
  between the individuals with relapse-remitting MS
  at different stages.
• Combining our eye-tracking analysis with the
  visual sequencing test has allowed ViewMind to
  enrich the identification of clinical features in
  MS, unveil novel features of MS unknown to date,
  and provide more sensitive tools to monitor and
  trace motor and cognitive aspects of patients at
  risk of progression from relapse-remitting MS to
  secondary-progressive MS.
• By isolating the individual eye-movement patterns
  associated with these two MS types, we have
  created a new window in which to view the effects
  of various disease interventions and hopefully
  reduce the number of progressive cases. With our
  affordable, accessible, and highly scalable
  assessment, we are working to make cognitive
  health care and the opportunity for early,
  definitive diagnosis available to all.
• Article Resource -https//www.viewmind.com/unders
  tanding-the-cognitive-impacts-of-multiple-sclerosi
  s/