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Can MS be Detected in Children?

Updated: Jan 8

Quick answer is YES!





It was only recently through a Reddit thread that a Redditor posted this link written about him back in 2009 that I discovered MS can be diagnosed in children. I was quite surprised and sad to know this at the same time. If getting diagnosed as was as life altering to a child as it was for an adult, that is devastating.



Simply, it leaves me bewildered how there has yet to be an answer as to what exactly causes Multiple Sclerosis and why we don't have a cure!


I also thought back to the day I got my official diagnosis. The fateful day that would upend life as I knew it at my neurologist's desk at the University of British Columbia MS clinic when she said 'and actually, some of these lesions look quite old. We can't tell how old, but probably years, and you just didn't know it.' Since that moment and finding this article, I've been thinking a lot about all those times I felt numbness, back pain or tripped on absolutely nothing and hurt my ankle. Were those early signs? That's one of the most upsetting parts of a chronic illness like MS...the symptoms 'hide' and the ailment is invisible...until it's not.


So, until then we find reasons and a cure, we're sharing this article, 'MS Increasingly recognized as childhood disease' knowing this information about childhood MS might help spread awareness to lead to earlier diagnoses and start necessary disease modifying therapies in order to reduce the damage done to the affected myelin and nerves. Imagine giving a young person an enhanced quality of life simply by diagnosing earlier!



 

A screenshot of a CBC article titled "Ms increasingly recognized as a childhood disease'


 

You might be wondering now, what are the symptoms of early childhood Multiple Sclerosis. Here are some more details from Boston Children's Hospital on early symptoms:


  • Weakness

  • Exhaustion

  • Blurry vision or other changes in vision

  • Numbness

  • Tingling or other change in sensation

  • Loss of balance or coordination

  • Changes in bladder or bowel function

  • Dizziness


It's unfortunate that almost all of these symptoms can 'hide' and be attributed so another ailment until MRI scans reveal brain or cervical spine lesions directly correlated to MS but if more people know, perhaps more doctors will not be quick to dismiss the possibility of Multiple Sclerosis.


 
 
 

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