Multiple sclerosis. Highlights of studies relating to nature and cause

Multiple sclerosis (MS), a common cause of neurologic disability in adults, most often begins in the early part of the fourth decade of life. Signs and symptoms are the result of focal destruction of myelin in the CNS. An elevated CSF gamma globulin level or evidence of an oligoclonal CSF gamma globulin is helpful in diagnosis. MS may be an uncommon result of early-life viral infection in genetically susceptible persons.