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CNN Live Today

Hope for Multiple Sclerosis

Aired October 09, 2002 - 11:44   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Teri Garr says that she's doing well, but multiple sclerosis can be debilitating for some who suffer from it.
Our medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is in New York to talk more about MS.

Sanjay, good morning.

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

KAGAN: Teri Garr says that she's had symptoms for 19, 20 years. What are some early symptoms of MS?

GUPTA: Well, you know, it's interesting just listening to what she had to say there. It can be very confusing at the very beginning, especially for someone who has very mild symptoms. The symptoms can be really anything from just simple fatigue, tiredness, to something much more obvious such as blindness or losing vision for a short time this one eye. You can read all the symptoms there.

One thing I'll point out, as you see, there are so many different sorts of symptoms. And that's one of the really big things about MS, is that it really can present anywhere at any time. Daryn, it's worth pointing out just for a second, if I could, really what happens there in MS. Typically what happens is that most believe it is an autoimmune problem. The body actually recognizes the coating around the nerves; it's sort of like the coating around a wire. It recognizes that coating as foreign and for whatever reason begins to attack that coating. That makes it very difficult for nerve impulses to actually get transmitted.

That could happen in the eyes, that could happen in your arms, your legs, you may have weakness in one leg. You may have numbness in another leg. You may have blindness. It may come and it may go. In fact, that's the typical course. They call it remitting/relapsing, meaning that it comes for awhile and then it goes away, and you think, That was sort of strange: I had these symptoms awhile ago, but now they're gone. That's what makes it confusing. It's not until it comes back over and over and over again that people finally seek help.

KAGAN: We heard Teri Garr say she went to see 11 doctors before she finally got a good diagnosis. How do you in the end diagnose MS?

GUPTA: What you really have to do, typically, is when you have these reactions to that coating around your nerves, after a while it's going to start to leave scars in various places. It might be in the brain. It might be in some of the nerves in the rest of your body. A lot of times, you'll actually see those scars on an MRI scan, and that's one of the hallmarks of MS -- they actually call those plaques. And if you see those plaques, that's a pretty good clue.

Another way is to remove some of the fluid that bathes the spinal cord and the brain. And typically, those inflammatory cells will be present in high numbers in the fluid at that point. But again, Daryn, you have to be very suspicious that that's what it is. Not everybody that goes with a little bit of tingling in the arms or anything like that is going to have MS. In fact, a great majority of the time they're not.

KAGAN: Finally, we heard Teri Garr say one reason she's coming out is she thinks there is a lot of good medications and treatments out there. What are the main medications used for MS these days?

GUPTA: The medications have typically focused on steroid-based medications, that is medications that try to decrease that inflammation that's causing the problem. There's also a different class of medications, called interferons, and basically what that is are medications that allow the body's own natural sort of anti- imflammatory mechanisms to take place. It sort of mimics those same anti-inflammatory mechanisms. Some of the medications that are well known are Avanex, Betasterone (ph) and Revib (ph) -- are some of the well-known medications in that class.

The medications have improved quite a bit, but Daryn, it is worth pointing out there still that there is no cure for MS, although a lot of people live a normal life expectancy with greatly reduced symptoms because of these medications.

KAGAN: And that is good to hear.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta in New York, thank you.

GUPTA: Good to see you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired October 9, 2002 - 11:44   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Teri Garr says that she's doing well, but multiple sclerosis can be debilitating for some who suffer from it.
Our medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is in New York to talk more about MS.

Sanjay, good morning.

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

KAGAN: Teri Garr says that she's had symptoms for 19, 20 years. What are some early symptoms of MS?

GUPTA: Well, you know, it's interesting just listening to what she had to say there. It can be very confusing at the very beginning, especially for someone who has very mild symptoms. The symptoms can be really anything from just simple fatigue, tiredness, to something much more obvious such as blindness or losing vision for a short time this one eye. You can read all the symptoms there.

One thing I'll point out, as you see, there are so many different sorts of symptoms. And that's one of the really big things about MS, is that it really can present anywhere at any time. Daryn, it's worth pointing out just for a second, if I could, really what happens there in MS. Typically what happens is that most believe it is an autoimmune problem. The body actually recognizes the coating around the nerves; it's sort of like the coating around a wire. It recognizes that coating as foreign and for whatever reason begins to attack that coating. That makes it very difficult for nerve impulses to actually get transmitted.

That could happen in the eyes, that could happen in your arms, your legs, you may have weakness in one leg. You may have numbness in another leg. You may have blindness. It may come and it may go. In fact, that's the typical course. They call it remitting/relapsing, meaning that it comes for awhile and then it goes away, and you think, That was sort of strange: I had these symptoms awhile ago, but now they're gone. That's what makes it confusing. It's not until it comes back over and over and over again that people finally seek help.

KAGAN: We heard Teri Garr say she went to see 11 doctors before she finally got a good diagnosis. How do you in the end diagnose MS?

GUPTA: What you really have to do, typically, is when you have these reactions to that coating around your nerves, after a while it's going to start to leave scars in various places. It might be in the brain. It might be in some of the nerves in the rest of your body. A lot of times, you'll actually see those scars on an MRI scan, and that's one of the hallmarks of MS -- they actually call those plaques. And if you see those plaques, that's a pretty good clue.

Another way is to remove some of the fluid that bathes the spinal cord and the brain. And typically, those inflammatory cells will be present in high numbers in the fluid at that point. But again, Daryn, you have to be very suspicious that that's what it is. Not everybody that goes with a little bit of tingling in the arms or anything like that is going to have MS. In fact, a great majority of the time they're not.

KAGAN: Finally, we heard Teri Garr say one reason she's coming out is she thinks there is a lot of good medications and treatments out there. What are the main medications used for MS these days?

GUPTA: The medications have typically focused on steroid-based medications, that is medications that try to decrease that inflammation that's causing the problem. There's also a different class of medications, called interferons, and basically what that is are medications that allow the body's own natural sort of anti- imflammatory mechanisms to take place. It sort of mimics those same anti-inflammatory mechanisms. Some of the medications that are well known are Avanex, Betasterone (ph) and Revib (ph) -- are some of the well-known medications in that class.

The medications have improved quite a bit, but Daryn, it is worth pointing out there still that there is no cure for MS, although a lot of people live a normal life expectancy with greatly reduced symptoms because of these medications.

KAGAN: And that is good to hear.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta in New York, thank you.

GUPTA: Good to see you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com