Why does multiple sclerosis affect muscles

Sometimes MS affects the muscles of the foot, making it hard to walk in a normal heel-toe pattern. As a result, your foot may drag on the ground when you walk. This is called drop foot or foot drop. The main treatments for MS will focus on slowing the disease progression, preventing nerve-damaging attacks, and relieving your symptoms.

Medications that accomplish these goals may be mainstays of your MS therapy. These might include:. Exercise is another important component of your treatment. A combination of cardio and strength-training exercises can combat muscle weakness and give you more energy. If your muscles have become weak from lack of use, resistance exercises using weights can strengthen them. A physical therapist can help you develop an exercise program that meets your ability level and accommodates any limitations you might have.

When your weakness is caused by damage to nerve fibers, the treatment strategy is a bit different. The goal will be to use the affected muscles as much as possible by staying more active.

In this case, the therapist will teach you ways to minimize the effects of muscle weakness. For foot drop, the therapist can prescribe an ankle splint orthosis to prevent your foot from dragging while you walk. You may also need occupational therapy to learn new strategies for getting around in your home and at work. Everyone experiences the disease differently.

You may need to try different treatments until you find one that relieves your muscle weakness and other symptoms. National Library of Medicine , early multiple sclerosis symptoms tend to show up in adults 20 to 40 years of age. Women are also diagnosed with MS at least twice as often as men.

MS is thought to be an autoimmune disease and a progressive neurodegenerative condition. What we do know is that it affects the nervous system and gradually impacts the whole body. Most of the problems described above are primary symptoms associated with MS.

Some primary symptoms can be treated directly by trying to slow the nerve damage and prevent MS attacks. However, once nerve damage exists, secondary symptoms can arise. Secondary MS symptoms are common complications of primary MS symptoms. Examples include UTIs that result from weak bladder muscles, or a loss of muscle tone that results from an inability to walk.

Secondary symptoms can often be treated effectively, but treating the source of the problem can prevent them altogether. As the disease progresses, MS will inevitably cause some secondary symptoms. Secondary symptoms can often be well-managed with medication, physical adaptation, therapy, and creativity. When these cells are damaged, the nerves are exposed and the brain has difficulty sending signals to the rest of the body.

The disconnection between the brain and the organs, muscles, tissues, and cells served by the damaged nerves causes symptoms such as:. Depression and other changes in the brain can be a direct result of MS or an indirect result from the difficulty of coping with the condition.

In rare or advanced cases , nerve damage can cause tremors, seizures, and cognitive problems that closely resemble other neurodegenerative conditions such as dementia. Vision problems are often the first sign of MS for many people.

Double vision, blurriness, pain, and problems seeing contrast can begin suddenly and affect one or both eyes. In many cases, vision problems are temporary or self-limiting, and likely result from nerve inflammation or fatigue of the eye muscles. Although some people with MS experience permanent vision problems, most cases are mild and can be effectively treated with steroids and other short-term treatments.

Rarely, people with MS may experience hearing loss or deafness caused by damage to the brainstem. These types of hearing problems usually resolve on their own, but can be permanent in some cases.

These include:. Such effects often occur during relapses or times of fatigue. Other speech problems can include changes in voice pitch or quality, nasality, and hoarseness or breathiness. Speech problems can be caused by breathing difficulties that are brought on by weak or damaged nerves that control muscles in the chest. Ann Indian Acad Neuro l. Foot drop. Updated October 9, National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Date unknown. Updated May 16, Foot drop: Management and treatment.

Updated November 9, National MS Society. Patejdl R, Zettl UK. Spasticity in multiple sclerosis: Contribution of inflammation, autoimmune mediated neuronal damage and therapeutic interventions. Autoimmun Rev. American Association of Neurological Surgeons. Numbness or tingling. Nilsagard Y et al. Mult Scler. Moradi M et al. Effects of eight-week resistance training program in men with multiple sclerosis.

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These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data. We and our partners process data to: Actively scan device characteristics for identification. I Accept Show Purposes. Table of Contents View All. Table of Contents. In addition, some of the medications that people use for MS are not safe to take during pregnancy and can worsen symptoms. Anyone with MS who is pregnant or planning to become pregnant should discuss their medications with a doctor. MS symptoms may worsen after menopause, possibly because declining estrogen levels adversely affect disease progression.

However, it is difficult to tell whether MS symptoms worsen because of menopause or just as a natural result of aging or the progression of the condition. Much more research is necessary to understand the relationship between menopause and MS symptoms. Although the symptoms above are the most common, MS affects everyone differently. Some less common symptoms of MS include:.

Some early symptoms of MS include:. Overall, MS seems to affect males and females similarly. However, a doctor cannot predict which symptoms that someone with MS will experience, the severity of the symptoms, or the progression of the condition. The reason for this is that the condition attacks the myelin randomly, and the nerves that it affects can differ from person to person. Although males and females with MS often experience similar symptoms, certain factors — such as menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause — may influence MS symptoms in females.

Females may be more at risk of MS because their bodies suppress the immune system while pregnant. Vitamin D deficiency may also be linked with MS. Some researchers believe that there is a link between MS and the differences in the ways that male and female bodies process vitamin D. However, more studies are necessary.

Other researchers theorize that X chromosomes play a direct role in autoimmune function. X chromosome inactivation in females may result in them having more MS susceptibility genes. Again, more research is necessary. MS is an autoimmune condition that randomly affects parts of the central nervous system, resulting in unpredictable physical, cognitive, and emotional symptoms.

Although MS tends to affect more females than males, it usually causes similar symptoms. However, females may experience variations in their symptoms due to hormonal changes, such as those that take place during menstruation, pregnancy, or menopause. Vision problems and random localized numbness are often the first symptoms of the condition. Depression, bladder problems, cognitive changes, and pain are also among the most common symptoms of MS.

There is currently no cure for MS, but different drugs and complementary therapies can typically help manage the symptoms or even slow the progression of the condition. Read the article in Spanish. Multiple sclerosis affects the nerves in the body and may also affect mood.