Selma Blair, a contestant on “Dancing with the Stars,” announced that she quit due to multiple sclerosis issues. In the US, the illness, commonly referred to as MS, affects nearly 1 million adults and has the potential to be incapacitating.
The majority of MS patients receive their diagnosis between the ages of 20 and 40, and women are more likely than men to receive the diagnosis, according to the Cleveland Clinic, a nonprofit academic medical centre.
A different nonprofit academic medical organisation, Mayo Clinic, describes MS as a brain and spinal cord condition that affects the central nervous system and can leave a person permanently disabled.
The immune system’s attack on the myelin, or protective sheath surrounding nerve fibres, causes problems with brain-body communication.
Despite the absence of a known cause, MS is more likely to affect people whose parents or siblings have the disease. Several viruses, including Epstein-Barr, which causes contagious mononucleosis, have been linked to MS.
The most vulnerable groups are white people and those living in temperate areas, including Canada, the northern United States, New Zealand, southeastern Australia, and Europe.
Though they can vary, severe symptoms can make walking impossible. Others may experience tremors, electric shock-like sensations with specific neck movements, numbness or weakness in their limbs. MS can cause fatigue, dizziness, and other symptoms, affecting vision and speech.
Some MS patients may experience lengthy remissions, in which they don’t experience any new symptoms.
No known cure exists for the condition. However, Mayo Clinic asserts that specific treatments can speed up recovery from an attack.
Corticosteroids can reduce nerve inflammation. If the symptoms are brand-new, severe, and not responding to steroids, doctors might try a plasma exchange, a procedure in which “the liquid portion of part of your blood (plasma) is taken and separated from your blood cells.”.
According to the Mayo Clinic, blood cells are reintroduced into the body after mixed with a protein solution (albumin).
According to the Mayo Clinic, various medications, such as muscle relaxants, antidepressants, pain relievers, and numerous others, may be advised to manage other symptoms. Strengthening muscles and easing some MS symptoms are other benefits of physical therapy.
To slow the disease’s progression, several medications are also used.
The only disease-modifying therapy (DMT) for primary-progressive MS that the FDA has approved is ocrelizumab (Ocrevus), according to the Mayo Clinic website. People who receive this treatment have a slightly lower risk of progression than people who do not.
For relapsing-remitting MS, there are many injectable, oral, and infusion therapies available. However, many of these medications have harmful side effects and health risks, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Blair disclosed her MS diagnosis in 2018. Since then, she has regularly gone to open events while utilising a cane to help with mobility.
The actress, who participated in the current season of “Dancing with the Stars,” claimed that recent MRI results led her to withdraw from the contest.
In a video announcing her departure, she described the extent of the damage, saying, “There’s extensive bone trauma and inflammation among rips and tears. “As a result, I might harm many people, which is not what I want to do. I’ll have to settle in, return to being a mom, and demonstrate to them that I must forgo something enjoyable. “.
She performed one last waltz with Sasha Farber on Monday night’s show.
Although she was emotional in the interview that followed her final performance, she claimed that the competition had improved her physical condition.
If it weren’t for this type of event with Sasha, “I’m so much better, and I would never have pushed myself in that way,” she claimed.
In MS patients, symptoms frequently come back throughout the illness. New symptoms may develop over days or weeks, after which they may partially or entirely vanish. The Mayo Clinic claims that remissions can last for months or even years.
The severity of the symptoms, which frequently include difficulties walking and moving around, could deteriorate over time.
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, the early symptoms of MS can be mild and sporadic, so it is not always easy to confirm a diagnosis. Other diseases can exhibit similar warning signs.
Several neurological tests, including an MRI, typically help doctors make a diagnosis, even though no specific laboratory test can confirm the disorders.
