Brunilda Nazario, MD Living with multiple sclerosis means living
with uncertainty. The course of the disease is very difficult
for doctors to predict. Some people live with MS for years
without suffering serious symptoms. Others may rapidly become
disabled. Why the course of the disease varies so widely remains
unclear. One thing is certain. Most people with MS experience
periodic relapses, also called flare-ups or attacks. These can
be mild or severe. They may show up in many different ways.
Symptoms can include: “Between 85% and 95% of MS patients begin
with what we call remitting/relapsing MS,” says Anne Cross, MD,
professor of neurology at Washington University School of
Medicine. During that phase of the disease, the pattern of
relapses varies widely among patients. Some people have frequent
relapses. Others have very few. The average is typically one to
two attacks a year, according to Cross. Doctors can help MS
patients live as active and normal a life as possible by
treating acute relapses as soon as