typing out loud in response to a post from a group member today

[Guest guest]

What the person who posted to me asked was, how young can a person

be and be diagnosed with MS. This person is a parent of a child who is

being worked up for MS, and is eight years old.

Nowadays, MS is diagnosed in those as young as six, and this depends

on the technology used, and the dilligence of they neurologist in really

wanting to figure out what is wrong.

This got me to thinking about how many members of our group have

mentioned things, sensations, unusual phenomena (not extra-terrestrial!)

that they have experienced prior to diagnosis with MS and/or any other

neurological condition.

My father had MS as well, and was especially affected with respect

to the vestibular system, fell down constantly and had repeated episodes

of optic neuritis and considerable foot drop and some muscle wasting,

yet survived, relatively intact, to the age of 95--I think; one of my brothers

is just certain that he lived to 97. A long time, for sure.

None of my own children has so far shown any sign of MS or any other

auto-immune disease. However, I have one nephew who has it, and two

first cousins who have auto-immune disease: one has MS; the other has

Lupus; both are doing reasonably well.

I first remember getting blurry vision, muscle cramps in my lower legs,

and blurry vision when I was about eight or nine--before I had had polio.

I think many of us may well have had symptoms and signs of MS long

before anyone really even considered it as a diagnosis.

I have lost the link about kids of six years of age being diagnosed definitively

with MS, but if I find or recover the link, I will send it on.

Love to each of you,

n