Prof. Dr. Serkan Özakbaş from the Department of Neurology at Izmir University of Economics Medical Point Hospital stated that MS, which means Multiple Sclerosis, is a treatable disease and can be controlled.
Prof. Dr. Serkan Özakbaş said, “MS is a progressive disease that can affect not only there but also all parts of the central nervous system, especially the myelin sheaths of the nerve fibers. MS is seen in young people between the ages of 20-40 and starts at that age. Our MS population is over 4 thousand. The average age of onset is 26 years for the attack form and 29 years for the entire MS group, that is, if we add the progressive form. Therefore, MS can start in attack form and progressive form. It is a common central nervous system disease that can cause blurred vision, double vision, imbalance, bowel problems and memory problems if not adequately controlled. The onset of MS in the form of attacks is seen in 85 percent. Out of every 100 people with MS, 85-90 of them start with an attack form. Another 10 percent start in the progressive form. In other words, a young woman in her mid-20s may be diagnosed with MS with the complaint of blurred vision in her eyes. We first correct such an attack with cortisone and then initiate preventive treatment to prevent recurrence of these attacks. With preventive treatment, MS can be completely controlled.”
'Their treatment has reached an advanced stage'
Stating that the preventive treatment of MS has improved with each passing 10 years, Prof. Dr. Özakbaş said, “The preventive treatment of MS, that is, the prevention of these attacks, was not even a question until 30 years ago. In 1993, preventive treatment of MS started with an interferon. Then other injection treatments and needles were used, and in 2010 the first oral treatment was introduced. Then there were more powerful infusion treatments. Nowadays, these injections are used orally. When we diagnosed a person with MS 30 years ago, there was no treatment other than cortisone. After 10 years, there was a 60 percent chance that person would be confined to a wheelchair. Today, with each passing 10 years, treatments have advanced to a very advanced stage. We have the means to ensure that a person with MS does not even have a disability as small as a wheelchair. So now a healthy situation can occur. The point I want to draw attention to here is that the disease is the same. It is only taken under control with treatments.”
'Life is not lost due to MS'
Stating that it would not be possible for a well-controlled MS patient to lose their life due to the disease, Prof. Dr. Özakbaş said, “It is not possible for a well-controlled MS patient to lose their life due to MS. Of course, we do not know all our patients with MS today. There are patients who have been diagnosed in the past. Unfortunately, there can also be patients with disability. Frequent infections and inactivity can indirectly shorten life expectancy. MS can also be mostly seen in horizontal genetic transmissions. A mother may later pass it on to her daughter and son, a father may pass it on to his daughter and son. It can occur in sisters and cousins. We can give an example as follows: the probability of a person in Turkey who does not have MS in a blood relative is 2,500 to 2,000, but if a blood relative has MS, the probability of a person having MS is 1 in 500 to 1 in 1000. Turkey is in the low intermediate risk group in terms of MS prevalence. The places where MS is common in Turkey are places that have received migration from the Balkans and Caucasus. In this respect, Izmir is a city with more MS patients than Turkey in general due to migration.”
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