Prelude to the framing of a disease: multiple sclerosis in the period before Charcots Leçons

Charcot is often credited as being the first to describe MS and the one who named it sclérose en plaques disseminées. He himself recognized that this was not true, and in turn acknowledged the contribution of others. The history of the disorder can be traced far beyond the first medical observations, however. There are entries in diaries, case reports and other literature documenting symptoms that could now be classified as MS. These all appeared before Charcots leçons in 1868 and although they did not name or frame the disease, contribute to its recognition. In addition, several physicians observed and documented the pathology of the disease and developed new techniques allowing further investigation. This review details the early documentation of patients with what was probably MS and the contribution of physicians to the delineation of MS as a named disease.