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Sid Gilman, MD

JAMA. 1981;246(10):1122-1123.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

Multiple sclerosis is an acquired disease of the CNS, characterized by neuropathologic changes in the white matter of the brain and spinal cord in random and multiple sites.¹ The disease essentially never affects the peripheral nervous system. The neuropathologic changes consist of loss of the myelin covering of axons in the form of demyelinative plaques.² The sites frequently affected account for the characteristic symptoms and signs, with disease of the optic nerves and chiasm causing visual disturbances, involvement of the cerebellum leading to gait and limb ataxia, and spinal cord lesions causing limb paresthesias and weakness as well as urinary and sexual disturbances. Many other sites commonly are affected as well. The disease is known to occur at as young an age as 6 years and at as old an age as 65 years. The onset occurs most frequently, however, during the second and third decades of life. . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
The University of Michigan Ann Arbor

Footnotes
Address editorial communications to the Editor, 535 N Dearborn St, Chicago, IL 60610.

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