Complications of Multiple Sclerosis

You may know someone living with multiple sclerosis (MS), but do you know how they are affected by the condition?

95. Verily! It is Allah Who causes the seed-grain and the fruit-stone (like date-stone, etc.) to split and sprout. He brings forth the living from the dead, and it is He Who brings forth the dead from the living. Such is Allah, then how are you deluded away from the truth?

96. (He is the) Cleaver of the daybreak. He has appointed the night for resting, and the sun and the moon for reckoning. Such is the measuring of the All-Mighty, the All-Knowing.

97. It is He Who has set the stars for you, so that you may guide your course with their help through the darkness of the land and the sea. We have (indeed) explained in detail Our Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, Revelations, etc.) for people who know.

98. It is He Who has created you from a single person (Adam), and has given you a place of residing (on the earth or in your mother's wombs) and a place of storage [in the earth (in your graves) or in your father's loins]. Indeed, We have explained in detail Our revelations (this Qur'an) for people who understand.

99. It is He Who sends down water (rain) from the sky, and with it We bring forth vegetation of all kinds, and out of it We bring forth green stalks, from which We bring forth thick clustered grain. And out of the date-palm and its spathe come forth clusters of dates hanging low and near, and gardens of grapes, olives and pomegranates, each similar (in kind) yet different (in variety and taste). Look at their fruits when they begin to bear, and the ripeness thereof. Verily! In these things there are signs for people who believe. 6. Surah Al-An'am (The Cattle)

MS is an autoimmune disorder in which the immune system attacks the nervous system, starting with myelin (the protein covering that protects the nerves). When myelin and underlying nerves are damaged, a number of complications can result.

Sound confusing? Tanuja Chitnis, MD, associate neurologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, explains some of the more common symptoms and complications that MS patients may face.

• Women with multiple sclerosis (MS) have lower leve...

Loss of Mobility and Spasticity. Multiple sclerosis can attack the part of the brain that regulates motor function. This problem is what Rick Sommers, diagnosed with MS in 1994, calls "a predisposition to being clumsy" — meaning that it causes frequent stumbles and missteps and may eventually cause a more severe disability. "Will I end up in a wheelchair?" is still a question frequently asked by people newly diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and though many people living with MS will need assistance from adaptive technologies at some point in their lives, doctors are now reporting that the outlook is better than ever. Chitnis says that currently "the goal of treatment is to prevent disability."

Bowel and Urinary Dysfunction. "Urinary symptoms are common in people living with MS and usually involve urgency or frequency issues," Chitnis says. Incontinence, or an involuntary loss of urine, can also appear in MS patients, not necessarily due to the direct action of multiple sclerosis but due to a combination of MS complications such as a less-active lifestyle and the side effects of medications, Chitnis says.

Cognitive Issues. Problems with processing thoughts, concentration, memory, or other issues related to mental awareness or judgment are widespread among people living with MS and have been gaining more attention recently. Jeffrey Gingold, diagnosed in 1996, suffers from cognitive issues as a result of his MS. "Because it's a mental condition," Gingold says, of the cognitive effects of MS, "there's more of a stigma attached. People are reluctant to talk about it." Still, Gingold believes this perception is gradually changing. In the past, he says, "even health care providers sometimes had a tendency to write such issues off as stress or a menopause-related problem, for women." Now, people are taking the common cognitive symptoms of multiple sclerosis more seriously.

Depression. Depression can be caused by a number of factors in people with multiple sclerosis. Chitnis says the relationship between depression and MS is complex: For people predisposed to depression, some of the medications that are used to slow the progression of multiple sclerosis can make symptoms of depression worse; for other people, the shock of being diagnosed with a chronic illness can lead to depression. In addition, she says, depression can develop as a direct result of multiple sclerosis, occurring when the part of the brain that regulates emotions is attacked and damaged.

Sexual Dysfunction. Sexual dysfunction is a common complaint among people living with MS. Sexual problems in people with MS can result from a multiple sclerosis attack on the part of the brain that controls sexual function or the nerves that send impulses to the sex organs. Or, they can come as a result of a combination of other MS complications. Depression and fatigue, for instance, are often linked to lessened sexual desire. And spasticity and loss of mobility, which are common in MS, can cause discomfort during sexual activity.

Speech Problems. Speech issues can appear in people living with MS if multiple sclerosis attacks the part of the brain that controls verbal communication or the nerves that send communication between the mouth and brain. Speech problems take the form of slurred or nasal-sounding speech, and changes in cadence, such as additional pauses between words and syllables where none are usually found.

Lung Issues. Your brain automatically regulates certain essential bodily functions such as breathing and your heart beat, even while you're sleep. If multiple sclerosis damages the part of the brain that controls such automatic functions, serious problems can result. If you have MS and you're having difficulty breathing, visit a doctor or emergency room immediately.

Osteoporosis. People with MS are at increased risk for osteoporosis, a disease that causes thinning of the bones. Because the condition also creates mobility and spasticity problems, some people with MS are more prone to falling, which also increases their chances of breaking a bone. In addition, steroid drugs are frequently prescribed to treat flareups of MS symptoms and, while they do an effective job of bringing MS symptoms under control, steroids can also increase the risk for osteoporosis.

While multiple sclerosis complications will vary from person to person, understanding these common risk factors can help you and your doctor create a disease management plan that works best for you.

Multiple sclerosis, or MS, is associated with a wide range of symptoms that affect numerous body parts and systems.

For instance, the disease often affects the muscles, causing loss of balance, spasms, and weakness. It can also lead to difficulty chewing and swallowing, and it even affects bladder and bowel control.

But these symptoms are only the beginning: When left untreated, MS can cause life-threatening complications.

Infection-Related MS Complications

It may come as a surprise, but people with MS are at high risk of contracting a number of infections.

Bladder problems are very common in people with MS, affecting at least 80 percent of them, according to the National MS Society.

Some people have trouble holding their urine (incontinence), while others can't fully empty their bladder (retention). If the bladder isn't completely emptied, the retained urine may allow bacteria and fungi to grow out of control, creating a serious urinary tract infection. This bladder dysfunction may also lead to kidney infections.

In the worst cases, the microbes find their way into the bloodstream, which can cause what’s known as sepsis, a chemical response in the blood that creates a whole-body inflammation that, in turn, may cause organ failure and death.

In fact, sepsis may be the biggest cause of MS-related deaths, according to a 2014 report in the journal PLoS One.

Sometimes, people with MS have trouble chewing and swallowing. This can allow foods and liquids, including your own mucus, to go the wrong way down and deposit in the lungs. That may lead to a potentially fatal complication: aspiration pneumonia, which develops from inflammation and fluid accumulation in the lungs.

Multiple sclerosis may also cause the respiratory muscles to become weakened, reducing airway clearance, which raises the risk of lung and other respiratory tract infections.

Lung infections were the second-biggest cause of MS-related deaths in study PLoS One reported in 2014. Other research gives it the top spot for cause of death in people with MS.

Other MS Complications

The good news is that most people with MS are not severely physically disabled, and are still able to walk, according to the National MS Society.

However, many do require canes or crutches, and complications do happen among people with MS who aren't disabled. For instance, weakened muscles and balance issues from MS increase the risk of physical trauma from falls and accidents.

For those who are disabled by MS, long hours in bed or in a wheelchair can cause pressure sores, also known as bedsores and pressure ulcers. As the name implies, these sores are injuries to skin tissue resulting from prolonged pressure in particular spots.

These sores must be taken seriously because they can cause difficult-to-treat infections and may develop into life-threatening sepsis.

Lack of walking and movement also weakens muscles. What's more, decreased mobility and the lack of weight-bearing activity can increase a person's risk of osteoporosis, which can lead to broken bones, especially when combined with the high risk of falling among people with MS.

Corticosteroid drugs also increase the risk of developing osteoporosis. This is particularly unfortunate, since these drugs are an important option for reducing inflammation and treating an MS relapse, or attack, which is the development of new symptoms or worsening of old ones.

Multiple Sclerosis and Depression

Scientists don't fully understand the relation between depression and MS.

On the one hand, depression may be a direct physical effect of MS. MS develops when the immune system attacks the protective myelin sheaths that envelop nerve fibers in the central nervous system, which includes the spinal cord and the brain.

So it’s plausible that when there is damage to myelin sheaths, and then the underling nerve fibers of brain areas involved with emotion (such as the hippocampus), people may develop behavioral changes including depression.

Multiple sclerosis can also change what is known as the body’s neuroendocrine system, which oversees hormone release, including hormones implicated in depression, such as serotonin.

On the other hand, depression may develop as a result of the stresses and challenges associated with having MS. The medications used to treat MS, such as interferon beta, can also cause depression.

Whatever the cause, depression is common among people who have MS. People with MS have a 40 percent to 60 percent chance of developing depression in their lifetime, according to a 2006 article in the Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development.

Additionally, depression is twice as common overall in people with MS compared with other groups that have different chronic diseases. People with MS even have more severe depression than people who have other neurologically based chronic illnesses, the report notes.

Along the same lines, people with MS are more likely to commit suicide, though it's unclear just how much higher their risk is. A 1991 Canadian study found that suicide risk for people with MS was 7.5 times higher than in the age-matched general population.

But a 2005 Danish study found that the risk of suicide for people with MS was twice as high as it was for the general Danish population, a big difference from the Canadian study’s results, although still a substantial risk.

• What are some of the most common Multiple Sclerosis complications?
  People suffering from Multiple Sclerosis often suffer from the following complications:

  • Fatigue
  • Tingling
  • Pain
  • Numbness
  • Problems with balance and walking
  • Changes in vision
  • Depression
  • Emotional changes
  • Impaired thinking
  • Impaired understanding
  • Poor muscle coordination
  • Sexual problems
  • Slurred speech
  • Stuttering
  • Bladder and bowel problems
• What are stem cells?
  Stem cells are unprogrammed cells in the human body that can be described as "shape shifters." These cells have the ability to change or “differentiate” into other types of cells. Stem cells are at the center of a new field of science called regenerative medicine. Because stem cells can become neurons, bone, muscle, cartilage and other specialized types of cells, they have the potential to treat many diseases, including Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, Diabetes and more.
• What is stem cell therapy and how does it work?
  Stem cell therapy is an intervention strategy that introduces new adult stem cells into damaged tissue in order to treat disease or injury. Many medical researchers believe that stem cell treatments have the potential to change the face of human disease and alleviate suffering. The ability of stem cells to self-renew and give rise to subsequent generations with variable degrees of differentiation capacities, offers significant potential for generation of tissues that can potentially replace diseases and damaged areas in the body, with minimal risk of rejection and side effects.
• What are the different types of stem cells?
  StemGenex offers stem cell therapy using Adult stem cells only. There are four known types of stem cells:

  • Adult Stem Cells - derived from the adult human body
    The use of adult stem cells in research and therapy is not as controversial as the use of embryonic stem cells, because the production of adult stem cells does not require the destruction of an embryo. Additionally, in instances where adult stem cells are obtained from the intended recipient, the risk of rejection is essentially non-existent. Consequently, more US government funding is being provided for adult stem cell research. This is why StemGenex offers stem cell studies using Adult stem cells only.
  • Embryonic Stem Cells - derived from embryos
    These cells require specific signals to differentiate to the desired cell type. If they are simply injected directly, they will differentiate into many different types of cells, resulting in a tumor derived from this abnormal pluripotent cell development (a teratoma). The directed differentiation of ES cells and avoidance of transplant rejection are just two of the hurdles that ES cell researchers still face. StemGenex does not use embryonic stem cells.
  • Fetal Stem Cells - derived from aborted fetuses
    Have developed further than embryonic stem cells and are a little more specialized – their options are slightly more limited. However, they can still produce most types of cell in the body. StemGenex does not use fetal stem cells.
  • Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs) - from some parts of the human body
    These stem cells are engineered from older, fully specialized cells – for example, skin cells, which are limited naturally to being only skin cells. Scientists encourage these limited cells to act like embryonic stem cells again, with the ability to become any type of human cell. This is a complex technique that has only recently been developed and is the subject of much ongoing research. StemGenex does not use induced pluripotent stem cells.
• What are main types of MS?
  • Relapsing remitting MS (RRMS):
    Periods of acute attacks with worsening of symptoms followed by complete or partial recovery (remission)
    Around 85 per cent of people with MS are diagnosed with RRMS.
  • Secondary progressive MS (SPMS):
    Following an initial period of relapsing remitting MS, many people develop secondary progressive MS. This is characterised by a gradual accumulation of disability, either with or without relapses (relapsing SPMS or non-relapsing SPMS).
  • Primary progressive MS (PPMS):
    A gradual accumulation of disability from the beginning, with no distinct periods of relapse and remission.
    Around 10-15 per cent of people diagnosed have this form of MS.
  • Progressive-Relapsing MS:
    In this relatively rare course of MS (5%), people experience steadily worsening disease from the beginning, but with clear attacks of worsening neurologic function along the way. They may or may not experience some recovery following these relapses, but the disease continues to progress without remissions.
• Why use adipose (fat) derived stem cells?
  • Adipose (fat) tissue contains a concentrated amount of cells known as mesenchymal stem cells which are capable of replication or becoming different types of cells throughout the body such as neurons, bone, cartilage, muscle, tendon, etc…
  • The advantage of using mesenchymal stem cells from your adipose fat is that they are one of the richest sources of stem cells in the body (2500 times more stem cells reside in fat vs. bone marrow) and they are very easy to harvest via a mini-liposuction procedure.
  • Adipose derived stem cells also have a much higher immunomodulatory capacity than those of bone marrow derived stem cells which can greatly benefit patients with auto-immune conditions.
  • Adipose derived stem cell treatments are autologous meaning they are derived from the patient’s own body. Numerous studies have been done showing the safety and efficacy of autologous stem cell therapy throughout the years.
• Why does StemGenex offer registered clinical studies through The National Institutes of Health?
  As is the case with most degenerative conditions, there are few available drugs to treat these diseases. The handful of drugs that are available can only ameliorate symptoms and unfortunately, prolonged usage can create terrible side-effects. Further, these drugs do not halt disease progression or aid in the repair of established damage.

  Our goal is to provide regenerative medicine applications that address these critical issues. The registered clinical studies we are conducting are designed to provide us with a large amount of rigorously collected data so that we can better understand the clinical benefit of patients treated with stem cells.
• What technology and specialists does StemGenex offer to make my stem cell treatment more effective?
  • Board Certified U.S. Doctors
  • Treatment in accredited surgical centers
  • Lab processing protocols developed and refined by our PhD neuroscientist
  • Multiple Activation Methods to ensure all patients receive therapeutic dosages of their stem cells
  • The latest targeted administration methods to deliver stem cells to areas where stem cells are needed most such as the brain, bladder or spine
• How are the stem cells administered back into Multiple Sclerosis patients through StemGenex?
  StemGenex is now offering potential ways to directly target the conditions and disease related complications. These treatments consist of multiple ways to deliver the highest amount of activated stem cells to the areas patients need them most. When MS patients are treated through StemGenex, there are multiple ways they can be administered:

  • Full body IV – directed into the vein
  • Intra Nasal – administration to access a highly vascular pathway of the nose to encourage more stem cells to travel past the blood brain barrier
  • Direct site injections – injected directly into the site that needs repair, i.e., muscles and tendons
  • Bladder catheterization – for patients suffering from incontinence, the stem cells are catheterized directly into the bladder.
• What can I expect after my Multiple Sclerosis stem cell therapy through StemGenex?
  After the procedure there will be minimal discomfort in the abdominal area with soreness and bruising lasting anywhere from 1 week to 2 weeks. We recommend patients relax and receive as much rest as possible to give their stem cells a chance to heal.
• How long would it take to see improvement?
  This is one of the most common and important questions a patient can ask. Keep in mind that every patient who receives any type of medical procedure will react differently to their treatment. Patients who have received stem cell therapy through StemGenex generally see the full culmination or their results from almost immediately to a few months later. Some patients have taken up to 6 months before seeing the full effect of the treatment.
• How long does the stem cell treatment through StemGenex take?
  A patient’s visit for stem cell treatment last for only 3 days. The first day will be a new patient orientation followed by a pre-op consultation with the treating physician. The very next morning the patients will begin their stem cell treatment which will last roughly 4-5 hours in length. They will then return back to the center on the third day for a post-op consultation before returning home. This is a minimally invasive 1-day procedure so patients are back in their hotel room each night with their families.
• Will I need to return regularly for follow-ups?
  Patients will only need to visit StemGenex once for their treatment. Again, this visit only lasts for 3 days. Once their treatment has completed, patients will return home where the StemGenex staff will follow-up with them for our studies on a regular basis. Because the visit lasts only 3 days, patients travel to StemGenex from all over the world to receive the highest level of stem cell therapy available. Patients do not need to return regularly for follow-ups.
• What type of complications has StemGenex observed in patients?
  As the first stem cell center of excellence, StemGenex has provided access to stem cell therapy for over 1,000 patients. Minimal bruising and soreness are the only complications we have observed due to the mini-liposuction procedure. Normally this will last anywhere from 1-2 weeks.
• Can this type of stem cell treatment cause cancer?
  Adult Mesenchymal stem cells, like the ones used through StemGenex, are not known to cause cancer. There have been reported cases of cancerous tumors known as teratomas forming when using embryonic cells. Again, StemGenex only provides access to stem cell treatment using adult mesenchymal stem cells, not embryonic.
• Am I a candidate for stem cell therapy through StemGenex?
  StemGenex follows a strict protocol to determine whether each and every patient is a good candidate or not stem cell therapy. Every patient will undergo a full medical history evaluation to determine their candidacy before being approved for treatment. Providing access to safe and effective stem cell therapy is our absolute goal therefore candidacy is determined by keeping these two criteria in mind.
• How much does stem cell treatment through StemGenex cost?
  The cost of each treatment depends on each individual case. In order to learn more regarding the cost for treatment, please contact one of our patient advocates who are available throughout the day. You can reach them by calling (800) 609-7795.
• Could a stem cell therapy be repeated?
  Yes, a stem cell therapy may be repeated. Current studies indicate the strong possibility of a cumulative effect from multiple stem cell therapies a patient received for their condition. Long-term studies will attempt to better understand this in detail.
• Could a stem cell therapy be used at the same time as other therapies?
  We don’t know yet. This will not be studied in early clinical trials, as this would make it very difficult to measure the true effects of the stem cell therapy. However, a combination therapy may be effective for Multiple Sclerosis and is likely to be studied in the future.