This in the fourth installment in my Introduction to MS series. I’ve already covered a few things, including what it is, the different types, and the myriad of symptoms. The History of MS is almost as complicated as the symptoms can be.
The History of MS goes back a long way. Not as far back as Hippocrates, though. He recorded every disease known at that time, without a mention of anything resembling MS.
Some epidemiologists point out that it wasn’t recorded in Greece until after the introduction of cows milk. Although we still don’t know exactly what causes it, the first case most agree was MS was documented almost 600 years ago.
In the Netherlands in the late 14th century, a woman named Lidwina was born. She would later be canonized as a saint in 1395. But first, she probably had MS.
After a skiing accident when she was 15, Lidwina began experiencing odd symptoms that would last the rest of her life. Although she experienced the common relapse and remittance pattern at first, she began a progressive decline that ended with her death in 1433.
She is now considered the patron saint of chronic illness and ice skating, a favorite past time of hers. Probably not so much the MS part.
Another interesting case is that of Sir Auguste d’Este, the grandson of King George III. He was born in 1794, died in 1184, and is the first person for whom a definitive MS diagnosis can be made.
I found his diary entries in this article also on the history of MS; like the author, I too found them oddly similar to some of my own journey. The strange, random symptoms, and temporary relief from them, is all too familiar to all of us with MS.
If you’ve never heard of him, I highly suggest reading his entries, which can be found here. I think they’re a must read for any MS warrior.
In 1838, the first autopsy was done that clearly describes Multiple Sclerosis, too. Thirty years later Jean-Martin Charcot, who would go on to be called the Father of Nerurology, began examining a woman whose case would puzzle and frustrate him his entire life.
The young woman experienced many common MS symptoms – slurred speech, unexplained tremors, amongst others. Charcot tried all the typical treatments of the time, even resorting to injections of gold and silver. All of this was to no avail, of course. After she died, he performed an autopsy and found what he described as “la sclérose en plaques” , and MS was officially on the scene.
At this point, we knew very little about MS other than the fact that it occurred. We had no idea why we got it, where it came from, none of that. The 20th century is where medicine for MS really took off – and that’s what I’ll be covering in my next installment in Intro to MS series!
But, check back Monday for another book review!
Until then,
