Relapsing-Remitting MS
In the majority of cases, MS starts off in an intermittent form known as relapsing-remitting. Episodes of active disease called ‘attacks’, ‘exacerbations’ or ‘relapses’ are followed by periods of inactivity or ‘remission’. Remissions can last for months, and often years. In the early stages of the disease there is often a complete recovery after each relapse, with no symptoms remaining during the remission. However, as damage to the nervous system accumulates each relapse tends to leave behind permanent after-effects, so that the level of impairment left during remissions gradually builds up.
During relapses, existing symptoms may get worse, old symptoms may come back, or new ones may develop. They may be little more than a mild inconvenience, or may make the sufferer so ill that every day activities become impossible. Relapses can last anything from a few hours to several months. No one knows why they start, or what causes the disease to go into remission.
About 25% of people with MS have the relapsing-remitting form.
