Introduction
(Adapted from Rosalind C. Kalb, PhD) Multiple sclerosis is a disease that causes damage to nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord. Because demyelination occurs in the brains of most people who have MS, cognitive functions can be affected. It is only within the last 10 years or so that cognitive impairment has been acknowledged and studied by MS professionals. It remains a difficult topic for many people with MS and their doctors to think about or discuss. Like the emotional aspects of MS, however, cognitive changes have the potential to affect any and all family issues discussed in this book. Research has shown that approximately half of people with MS have no apparent cognitive changes. Approximately 40 percent have cognitive changes that can be measured by psychological tests but which are only mildly or moderately disruptive of everyday activities (e.g., someone who has to write everything down because of memory problems). A small proportion of people with MS, probably no more than 5 percent to 10 percent, have cognitive changes that are so severe that they seriously disrupt day-to-day life (e.g., a person who cannot manage personal finances because of extreme confusion and disorganized thinking). What exactly is meant by "cognition?" The word comes from the Latin verb "to think" and refers to the "higher" brain functions such as memory and reasoning in contrast to more primitive functions such as sensation (e.g., vision, hearing) and motor function (e.g., strength, coordination). In MS, a number of these "higher" functions may be affected. The ones most commonly affected are: |
