Dr. Keren Regev explains what causes multiple sclerosis and how to live with this disease (Walla System)
The beloved actress Christina Applegate announced more than a year ago that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, but recently her story entered the hearts of many after she announced that she would probably not be able to act anymore, and even told candidly that filming the last season of her series sometimes felt "like torture" .
A few days after this announcement, she appeared at a ceremony to award a star to her name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, barefoot and with the help of a walking stick.
Multiple sclerosis is a chronic disease that causes damage to the central nervous system.
Multiple sclerosis has a wide range of symptoms, and it affects everyone differently - from a symptom-free disease to severe disability.
Dr. Keren Regev, director of the multiple sclerosis service at the Ichilov Hospital's neurological system, was a guest on the "Expert Clinic" podcast to explain what causes multiple sclerosis and how to live with this disease.
"Multiple sclerosis is a rare disease despite its misleading name, it is a disease that affects 1 in 1,000 people," said Dr. Regev at the beginning of her speech, clarifying that it is a very female disease. "Many autoimmune diseases, in which the immune system attacks the tissues of The body itself, more common in women, because the immune system of women requires more flexibility due to pregnancy and childbirth, so when it has more degrees of freedom, there is also a greater chance of mistakes, and a greater risk of autoimmune diseases."
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MS is also a disease of young people, and it usually starts between the ages of 20 and 40.
The disease is more common among smokers as well as among first degree relatives of multiple sclerosis patients.
What are the symptoms of multiple sclerosis?
"It is a disease whose width is very wide, and it is very different from one person to another. It is a disease that can sporadically damage any of the sites of the central nervous system (the brain, the optic nerve and the spinal cord), and this is the supreme command of all our functions," explained D "R. Regev. Therefore, multiple sclerosis can cause damage to the visual system - a rapid decrease in vision, or pain; a decrease in sensation, amputations, usually of half the face or half of the body; impairment of balance and dizziness; disorders of the urinary system (frequency and urgency or retention of urine ); for hearing damage, as well as other injuries.
"Each of these symptoms should lead to clarification.
I don't want to spread fear, but I would be happy if we could get people tested faster," said Dr. Regev, "the earlier we detect, the sooner we will preserve functional brain tissue for years, and prevent processes of premature aging of these systems."
She added that the diagnostic delay in sclerosis averages about a year, which is too much.
The symptoms of sclerosis vary greatly from person to person.
Christina Applegate and Katie Segal at the star of the week award ceremony (Photo: GettyImages, Phillip Faraone/Getty Images)
It is important to clarify that the symptoms of sclerosis vary greatly from person to person, and although there are cases of rapid and severe deterioration, as in the case of Applegate, there are also other cases.
"It's not that once you get the diagnosis you're on the path to a wheelchair. It's a disease that varies from person to person, there are many people who have been sick for many years and don't see and don't know, they get treatment and live a completely normal life," said Dr. Regev.
How do you live with multiple sclerosis?
"Like any other chronic disease, diabetes or blood pressure, it is true that multiple sclerosis cannot be eliminated, but it is possible to live a full and normal life with it. It is true that the disease will not disappear, but we know how to manage it and we know how to keep it under control," explained Dr. Regev, " The disease comes in such waves that are followed by improvement.
So it is possible that after there is such a wave and we have treated it sharply to shorten the attack, the person will return to a functional life, and then we can also prevent such new flare-ups, and more importantly - we can prevent this process of chronic and slow damage to the nervous system that accompanies this process.
With early treatment, the degenerative process can be prevented."
She added that there are currently no less than 17 drugs for multiple sclerosis.
"There are different levels of treatment intensity. There are pills, there are self-injections, there are infusions, there are medicines that are given once a year, once a month and medicines that are taken every day, and this allows us to tailor this suit in a way that is precise for each and every patient," said Dr. Regev, "There are many considerations, but fortunately, a multitude of options allows us to find the best solution for each and every person, according to their medical profile as well as their personal profile"
There is room for optimism
The improvement in diagnosis and the range of existing treatments allows people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis to live a normal life.
"In the past, most people after about 10 years of illness progressed in terms of the damage, in terms of the use of walking aids or the cognitive decline, but today the proportion of people who need walking aids or who suffer from functional disorders is much lower, and we attribute this to the effective and early treatment, as well as the choice the right treatment for the patient and proper monitoring," said Dr. Regev.
Although there is plenty of reason for optimism, said Dr. Regev, this is a disease that is complex to deal with.
"This is a terribly big crisis, and people who are told that they have multiple sclerosis, the feeling of 'the sky has fallen' is the feeling they are dealing with, it is a difficult feeling, and it happens to people at a young age, when life is just beginning and many decisions have not yet been made. It is a complex struggle."
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Multiple Sclerosis
Christina Applegate
