Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Physical Disability and MS Progression

One of the dreaded words used in relation to multiple sclerosis is PROGRESSION. Much of what we do and hope for is a lack of disease progression over time. It is the reason why we incorporate disease-modifying drugs into our treatment regimen and the reason we hope to limit the occurrence of new symptoms and/or relapses.

When I think of the term progression, a musical composition comes to mind (an obvious connection for a musician to make). However, progression in multiple sclerosis is not like typical tonal progression in a musical composition. In music, chord progressions will have a resolution. There will be a cadence and a well-defined move from one chord to another. Chord progressions are found throughout the composition, many of them repeated several times.

Modulations of keys within a piece will have a point at which you are finally aware that you are no longer in the original key but a new one. When analyzing a piece of music, a modulation will prompt you to look back and ponder where the hints of the new key began and where remnants of the old key no longer appear. I think that progression in MS is more like that musical modulation. Perhaps it happens before you are even aware that it has definitely occurred.


Read this post in its entirety:

Evaluating the Progression of MS: Physical Disability

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