What are typical s/sx of multiple sclerosis?

• A. Progressive memory loss and personality changes.
• B. Symmetric, uniform symptoms across patients.
• C. S/sx are variable, asymmetric due to demyelination; patterns of exacerbation and remission; paresthesias, weakness, vertigo, incoordination, ataxia, dysarthria, double vision, bladder control problems.
• D. Headache with photophobia and nausea.

Answer: (C)

Multiple sclerosis presents with lesions in the central nervous system that disrupt myelin, leading a wide range of neurological signs that are often patchy and asymmetric. Because the disease can affect different CNS areas, symptoms appear in various combinations and times, with episodes of new or worsening deficits followed by partial or complete recovery (relapses and remissions). Common manifestations reflect the affected pathways: sensory changes like paresthesias, weakness, vertigo, coordination problems and ataxia, dysarthria, double vision, and bladder control difficulties. This variability and the relapsing-remitting pattern are characteristic of MS, rather than a uniform set of symptoms or symptoms centered on a single system. Headache with photophobia, for example, points away from MS as the defining presentation, and memory or personality changes are not the typical hallmark early features.