CONTENTS Introduction: A New Look at a Well-Worn Road . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 PART ONE: THE JOURNEY BEGINS Chapter One: What Is Multiple Sclerosis—and Why Did It Happen to Me? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Chapter Two: The Home of MS: The Central Nervous System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 Chapter Three: When Good Becomes Evil: The Role of the Immune System in MS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 PART TWO: THE HIGHWAY SIGNS Chapter Four: Reading the Signs: Early Symptoms of MS . . . . .51 Chapter Five: Making a Turn: Later Symptoms of MS . . . . . . . .63 Chapter Six: The Different Roads MS Can Take: A Clinical Course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77 Chapter Seven: Making the Diagnosis: You Have MS . . . . . . . . .87 PART THREE: THE WINDING ROAD Chapter Eight: Powerful Medicine at Work: Acute Care and the “ABC + R” Disease-Modifying Drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . .105 Chapter Nine: Why Rehabilitation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135 Chapter Ten: Mobility in MS: Walking, Spasticity, Weakness, Tremors, and More . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .153 Chapter Eleven: Fatigue: Why You Feel Tired and What You Can Do About It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .183
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Chapter Twelve: Fighting Depression: MS and Your Emotional Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .199 Chapter Thirteen: Living with Bladder and Bowel Dysfunction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .225 PART FOUR: THE RIDE HOME Chapter Fourteen: The Activities of Daily Living . . . . . . . . . . .255 Chapter Fifteen: Alternative Therapy: Does It Work? . . . . . . .273 Chapter Sixteen: MS and Your Family, Your Job, and the World at Large . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .295 Epilogue: Living Successfully with Multiple Sclerosis . . . . . . . .315 Appendix: Names, Addresses, and Websites of Helpful Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .317 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .325 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .331