Multiple sclerosis is a chronic disease that affects the brain and spinal cord. MS can cause a variety of symptoms, including changes in sensation, visual problems, weakness, depression, and difficulties with coordination and speech. Although many patients lead full and rewarding lives, MS can cause impaired mobility and disability in the more severe cases. MS affects neurons, the cells of the brain and spinal cord that carry information, create thought and perception, and allow the brain to control the body. Surrounding and protecting these neurons is a layer of fat, called myelin, which helps neurons carry electrical signals. MS causes gradual destruction of myelin (demyelination) in patches throughout the brain and/or spinal cord, causing various symptoms depending upon which signals are interrupted. The name multiple sclerosis refers to the multiple scars (or scleroses) on the myelin sheaths. MS results from attacks by an individual's immune system on his or her own nervous system, and it is therefore categorized as an autoimmune disease.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_sclerosis

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1307: William Tell, a legendary marksman in Switzerland, is said to have successfully shot an apple on the head of his son with a single bolt from his crossbow. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Tell)

1626: St. Peter's Basilica was consecrated (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Peter%27s_Basilica)

1905: Prince Carl of Denmark became Haakon VII, the first King of Norway after the personal union between Sweden and Norway was dissolved. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haakon_VII_of_Norway)

1959: Ben-Hur, a film based on a bestselling historical novel by Lew Wallace, premiered in New York City. It went on to win an unprecedented eleven Academy Awards. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben-Hur_%281959_film%29)

1978: Jim Jones led more than 900 members of the People's Temple to a mass murder/suicide in Jonestown, Guyana. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonestown)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

"We’re all puppets, Laurie. I’m just a puppet who can see the strings." -- Alan Moore in Watchmen (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alan_Moore)