Summary

Multiple sclerosis is a devastating neurological disease that affects more than 400,000 people in the United States and 2.5 million worldwide. Symptoms include abnormal fatigue, impaired vision, hearing problems, loss of balance and muscle coordination, slurred speech, tremors, cognitive problems, partial or complete paralysis, and many other serious difficulties and disorders. Research has revealed a great deal about the possible causes of MS—environmental factors, ethnicity, age, and more—yet it remains one of the most baffling diseases to confront medical science, with an estimated 10,000 new cases diagnosed each year in the United States alone. Today, current diagnostic technology makes it possible to identify symptoms of MS in children as young as one or two years old, but it most commonly strikes people between the ages of 20 and 50.

The Encyclopedia of Multiple Sclerosis provides complete information on this tragic disease in an authoritative, one-volume format. Written for the professional and the layperson alike, this resource contains approximately 500 entries covering the etiology, research, treatment, symptoms, causes, and lifestyle issues related to the disease. Including up-to-date research as well as the history of multiple sclerosis, this volume presents the major and minor issues of the disease in a clear, concise manner. Appendixes include major MS organizations and care centers, information on assistive devices, and more.

Entries include:

• Allergies and MS
• Childhood MS
• Cognitive dysfunction
• Environmental triggers
• Forms of MS
• Immune system and MS
• Occupational therapy
• Symptoms of MS
• Treatment of MS
• Visual problems.

Specifications

Index. Appendixes. Bibliography. Cross-references.

About the Author(s)

Carol Turkington is a medical writer with a degree in journalism and 25 years of professional experience, including three years as medical writer/editor at Duke University Medical Center/Comprehensive Cancer Center. She brings a vast preexisting knowledge of cancer to the field, having conducted significant research and written extensively about the subject. She is very knowledgeable regarding breast and ovarian cancer, and has covered all aspects of women’s reproductive cancer in her book The Unofficial Guide to Women’s Health. She has covered many different types of cancers in The Encyclopedia of Skin and Skin Disorders, Second Edition; The Encyclopedia of the Brain and Brain Disorders, Second Edition; and The Encyclopedia of Deafness and Hearing Disorders, Second Edition, updated, all from Facts On File. Her other books for Facts On File include The Poisons and Antidotes Sourcebook; The Encyclopedia of Memory and Memory Disorders, Second Edition; and The Encyclopedia of Infectious Diseases, Second Edition.

Kaye D. Hooper, R.N., M.P.H., M.S.N., M.S.C.N., has worked in the field of multiple sclerosis for more than 10 years as nurse consultant and manager of the MS Clinic at Royal Brisbane Hospital in Australia. Hooper has served on numerous international MS professional boards, journals and councils, written for journals and organizations, and is an invited speaker at national and international MS conferences.

Rosalind C. Kalb, Ph.D., is Director of the Professional Resource Center at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in New York City, developing and providing educational materials and consultation services for healthcare professionals. After receiving her doctorate from Fordham University in 1977, she began her career in MS, providing individual, group, and family therapy at the MS Care Center at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Following the Center's relocation to New York Medical College, Kalb added a variety of other clinical and research activities to her work in MS. Kalb has written and edited several books.

Nancy Holland, Ed.D., R.N., M.S.C.N., has a master's in nursing and a doctorate in higher and adult education from Columbia University. She is considered to be an international authority on urinary problems in MS, and is vice president of clinical programs and of the Professional Resource Center at the National MS Society. Holland is the author/editor of more than 60 MS-related articles, books, and chapters.