Multiple Sclerosis is a tricky disease to identify as many
other disease tend to "mimic" its symptoms, making it difficult to
get an accurate diagnosis and often meaning that some will be misdiagnosed with
Multiple Sclerosis when they might, in fact, have another disease. This holds
true for the reverse, as well.
If you know anyone who has been ill for a while and suspects
they might have Multiple Sclerosis, you can take a look at what's involved in
achieving a clarifying and conclusive, accurate diagnosis before deciding that
maybe it's "all in their head" or they are a hypochondriac. (I
definitely believed I was a hypochondriac until my primary care physician
confirmed otherwise. Still wish I was just a hypochondriac, truth be told.)
It takes a lot of inquiry and testing to just simply
identify Multiple Sclerosis among all these other impostors. I know people who
have spent years trying to trace the source of their chronic illness, and still
others who self-diagnosed because they did not have access to knowledgeable
doctors who took their symptoms seriously enough to investigate this deeply.
The best way to achieve a differential diagnosis of Multiple
Sclerosis is to rule out all of these other conditions, and that requires a
host of diagnostic tools, which can include multiple MRIs, lumbar puncture,
blood tests, neurological assessments, orthopedic examinations, cognitive
function tests, nerve conduction studies, visual evoked potential tests,
physical exams, and a detailed record of family and personal medical history.
The following are the most prevailing MS mimics, though this
list is by no means exhaustive.
Autoimmune Conditions:
·
Encephalomyelitis
·
Lupus (SLE)
·
Sjogren's Syndrome
·
Myasthenia Gravis
·
Sarcoidosis
·
Whipple's Disease
Infectious Diseases:
· Lyme Disease
·
Human T-cell lymphotrophic virus-1
·
Neurosyphilis
Vascular Diseases:
·
Stroke
·
Central Nervous System Angitis
·
Dural Arteriovenous Fistulas
·
Binswanger's
·
Moyamoya
Other Diseases and Conditions:
·
Fibromyalgia
·
Vitamin B12 deficiency
·
Muscular Dystrophy
·
ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease)
·
Migraine
·
Hypo-thyroidism
·
Hypertension
·
Beçhets
·
Arnold-Chiari deformity
·
Mitochondrial Disorder
·
Familial Spastic Paraparesis
·
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
·
Degenerative spine disease
·
Brain and spinal cord tumor
The following list describes diseases very much related to
MS (cousins, if you will) but which also require a differential diagnosis so
the patient can receive the most appropriate treatment:
· Optic Neuritis
·
Transverse Myelitis
·
Devic's disease or neuromyelitis optica
·
Foix-Alajouanine syndrome
·
Partial cord syndrome
·
Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM)
·
Acute haemorrhagic encephalomyelitis
If you have a loved on in your life who has embarked on this
journey, please support them. It is incredibly difficult to live a normal life
while living inside these mysteries AND experiencing these symptoms.
Here's a fantastic article on differentiating MS from other
medical conditions, if you're inclined to learn more.
