Jack Osbourne Diagnosed With Multiple Sclerosis

  There are a few notable statements in this article:
 

"We welcome the Osbournes publicly supporting the notion of seeking counseling. This may benefit many other less famous patients." 

Famous patients give a 'face to the struggle' this disease causes for sufferers and helps the various m.s. societies to raise funds to find a cure and to formulate more effective treatments.

Avoid charging at windmills:

the "I'm going to beat this" attitude. 

Adapt and work around the fatigue,pain, memory problems and other symptoms you may have so you can maintain an active life.

...patients are encouraged to maintain a vigorous, active lifestyle and a positive outlook.


Jack Osbourne Diagnosed With Multiple Sclerosis at 26 - ABC News

 

By MIKAELA CONLEY (@mikaelaconley)

June 18, 2012

 

 

At only 26 and a new father, Jack Osbourne was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis earlier this spring.
  
The average age at which a patient is diagnosed is 37. 

.... approximately 400,000 Americans have MS, according to the National MS Society.
About 200 people are newly diagnosed each week.
 
Because of the typical early onset of the disease, MS patients are at the threshold of many life decisions, including career, marriage and children.

 "People have spent their entire life up until the point of diagnosis imagining their life in a certain way, they have to interpret how they're going to let go of that picture and how they see themselves, and fit that new information into the sense of who they are," said Rosalind Kalb, a clinical psychologist and director of the Professional Resource Center at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
 

While the diagnosis can throw one's life, particularly a young person's life that isn't fully settled, into disarray, patients should not jump to any conclusions about how the disease will run its course, said Kalb.

"It's important for patients not to rush out and quit their jobs or break up relationships because they may be able to live a full life with manageable symptoms," Kalb said.

Doctors and patients do not know how their multiple sclerosis will behave in the early weeks and months after diagnosis, and it is really only in hindsight that one can understand the severity of their disease. 

"While the public face of MS may be the wheelchair and problems walking, most people with MS never need the assistance of a wheelchair, but instead live with uncertainty," Dr. Daniel Kantor, president of the Florida Society of Neurology and member of the American Academy of Neurology...

   ... the hardest issue to cope with in MS is the fear of the unknown." 

Because of the sudden change and the myriad of unknowns, Kalb said counseling is sometimes recommended to help people cope with the new diagnosis, but not always.

Most importantly, she said patients need "access to good information and support from people around them."

"Most people do not have the luxury of psychological therapy after a diagnosis, but this would be ideal," said Kantor.

"We welcome the Osbournes publicly supporting the notion of seeking counseling. This may benefit many other less famous patients."

Kalb said the people who tend to have the most difficult time with their disease are the ones who approach it with a "I'm going to beat this" attitude. 

"We don't know how to beat this disease yet, we don't have a cure, but there are so many more treatments available than just a few years ago, so it's better to prioritize the days' challenges, and start that treatment early," she said. 
 

Patients experience a wide range of early onset symptoms of the disease, but people will typically notice changes in their vision, especially when feeling overheated, and numbness, tingling and other strange sensations in their limbs and extremities. Others will experience pain or changes in their bladder function and memory. 

Osbourne told People Magazine he was diagnosed with the disease after he lost 60 percent of his vision in his right eye. 

  Doctors recommend that patients begin treatments as early as possible, as that is when the medication is most effective in delaying and reducing events and onset, Coetzee said. Otherwise, patients are encouraged to maintain a vigorous, active lifestyle and a positive outlook. 

"It's important to maintain a healthy but pragmatic approach to this disease," said Coetzee. "

As with anything, we don't know where we will be in the future with this disease, but even just 30 years ago, there were so many unknowns.

While there still are unknowns, there is a lot more we know about symptoms and treatments and a lot more knowledge to build a foundation on."