![]() ![]() Some people believe, again without strong evidence, that an environmental irritant may have been involved, but that’s just conjecture at this point. Today, the anti-AQP-4 antibody test, in combination with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), allows us to now confidently label cases of NMOSD.ĮH: What, if anything, might predispose someone to the disease?īG: There’s speculation that a small percentage of cases may follow a viral or bacterial infection that somehow alters the immune system. After it was identified as the target of the immune system, researchers developed a blood test to detect antibodies to AQP. But while MS is an autoimmune disorder affecting the myelin sheath, NMOSD results from a very specific attack on one particular protein that was unknown until the mid-2000s, called aquaporin-4 (AQP-4). And until recently, some of these people may have been previously misdiagnosed as having a serious form of MS.īoth diseases damage the CNS, and the two share some symptoms. Again, the reasons for that are unknown.īG : The typical hospital may encounter only a single case in an entire year, if that. The prototypical NMOSD patient, in my experience, is a 40-year-old woman who’s more likely to be of African or Asian rather than of Caucasian descent. Eventually, they may have trouble moving, feeling their legs, and emptying their bowel or bladder.īG: The disease is significantly more common among females than males, with an average eight women diagnosed for every man.Īlthough the disease can appear at any age, including during childhood, it frequently strikes between ages 30 and 50. If the problem originates in the spinal cord rather than the optic nerve, they may first notice that their legs “just don’t feel right.” That’s followed by progressive numbness or weakening of the limbs. A vision problem in one eye can also often be the first sign of multiple sclerosis, too. They describe the graying and blurring of vision as “like looking through waxed paper,” with color and detail reduced. And when the assault targets the spinal cord, causing “transverse myelitis,” the pathways that control the movement and sensation in the limbs, the digestive tract, and other parts of the body are affected.Īs neurologists, we pinpoint where the body is impacted, act to end an active assault, and identify what’s required to prevent future attacks.īG : Thirty-five percent of people who are later diagnosed with NMOSD first notice vision loss in one or both eyes, usually over a period of a week or more, accompanied by pain when they move the eye. In NMOSD, the autoimmune attack can compromise the pathway leading from the eye to the brain - the optic nerve - threatening normal vision. Both MS and NMOSD are autoimmune diseases that damage the CNS, but the mechanisms that underlie that process differ between the diseases. In NMOSD, as in MS, the immune system can cause damage to both the myelin and to the nerves within. Similarly, nerve fibers in the body are covered within a coating of fats and proteins called the myelin sheath. In electrical appliances, these wires are wrapped in an insulating rubber layer to allow the current to pass unimpeded. It develops when an individual’s immune system, for reasons not yet understood, mistakenly attacks cells within the CNS specifically, a group of cells called astrocytes.Īs the master controller, the network of nerves that make up the CNS dispatch signals to other parts of the body, in much the same way copper wires transmit electricity to our devices. He shared his observations on this rare disease.īenjamin Greenberg: Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder is an autoimmune disease that predominantly affects the optic nerves and the spinal cord, within the central nervous system (CNS). Brain Institute at the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas. One of those specialists is Benjamin Greenberg, MD, a distinguished teaching professor and neurology department director at the Peter O’Donnell Jr. Today, the rare autoimmune disease is yielding to better diagnostic tests and more precise treatments, thanks to a cadre of specialists experienced in managing the ebb and flow of NMOSD attacks, which again mimic the course of MS. And until recently, neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) was often misdiagnosed as MS, a situation that could have serious consequences. It can look like multiple sclerosis (MS), act like MS, and feel like MS. ![]()
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