MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS

Health and Wellbeing in the 21st Century



Health and Wellbeing in the 21st Century

Introduction

Healthcare and wellness of an individual is his or her basic right. Everyone, no matter to which culture, class and race he or she belongs to deserves a proper system that provide healthcare benefits. In UK, healthcare industry is huge. It is the industry that constitutes 15% of the overall economy of UK and is considered as one of the largest and best healthcare industry all over the world. Health and wellbeing is considered as very significant in the 21st century. There has been an evolution in the medical field, many treatments of diseases have been determined that were considered as untreatable. The health industry has flourished in the research department and new and advanced technologies are being introduced for the betterment of the individuals' health and wellbeing. There are numerous diseases prevailing in the society which are influenced by the ethical, social and political factors. This paper will discuss the disease Multiple Sclerosis and the ethical, social and political factors that influence it.

Multiple Sclerosis

The disease is characterized by reactions of inflammation that result in places the destruction of myelin (demyelination). Myelin is a sheath that surrounds nerve fibers. Its role is to protect the fibers and accelerate the transmission of nerve impulses or messages. The immune system of people destroys myelin by treating it as foreign to the body (autoimmune reaction). Thus, in some areas of the nervous system impulses are slower or completely blocked, causing various symptoms. Besides outbreaks, inflammation disappears and myelin is reformed in part around the fibers, resulting in partial or complete regression of symptoms (Pierce, 2006, pp. 134). However, in cases of repeated and prolonged demyelination, neurons can be destroyed permanently. This then causes a permanent disability. Several studies have evaluated the link between vitamin D levels in the blood and the risk of multiple sclerosis. In 2004, a study of two cohorts with a total of 187 563 nurses found that women who take a daily supplement of vitamin D (400 IU or more) reduce by 40% their risk of suffering from multiple sclerosis. A 2006 survey of U.S. soldiers showed that those whose vitamin D levels were highest had a lower risk of developing multiple sclerosis (Weiner, 2004, pp. 326).

Prevalence

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is not a homogeneous disease. Rather, there is wide variation in the presentation of symptoms, course of the disease and ultimate prognosis (Warren & Warren, 2001, pp.44). There are four primary subtypes of multiple sclerosis largely characterized by the time-course and pattern of disease progression: relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), secondary progressive MS (SPMS), primary progressive MS (PPMS), and progressive relapsing MS (PRMS). Multiple sclerosis is condition of a lifelong, but it is very deadly at the same time. Mostly people with the disease of Multiple sclerosis have the same life expectancy. There are very few who have considerably shortened life.

It is estimated that on average, 1 in 1,000 suffers from multiple sclerosis, but this prevalence varies ...