Sunday, 16 October 2016

This is making me a bit 'nervous'. Nerve communication.

As MS is a condition affecting the nervous system, I thought I should clarify a few further things about the NS( nervous system).

Back to how they communicate with each other and send 'signals' to one another; when the action potentials (the initial signals) are passed over to another nerve, they must pass a small gap called the synaptic cleft, for this to occur they are transferred via chemicals called neurotransmitters. Take a deep breath!

These neurotransmitters play a huge role in physical, mental and emotional factors in a body. For example; levels of serotonin have been associated with affecting mood, social behavior, appetite, digestion, sleep, memory and sexual desire/function and things like excercise or erm chocolate showing to increase the levels of serotonin, that's why chocolate is loved very much! And excrcise more in others.

Thus why along with the turbulence MS may cause on a physical and cognitive playing field, there are also many mental issues easily associated with the condition and the treatments used for dealing with it also affecting or resulting in a further imbalance, which is a thought to why most known mental illnesses arise or why even families with a genetic make up resulting in neurotransmitter imbalance tend to have family histories of mental illnesses.

Just to clarify how the speed difference of signals make massive implications, I thought the pictures below would enlighten how it may do so and to show why MSers can be a bit 'slow'.














I know this is very sciency but it is needed, if you think MS is very long and confusing, just wait for the diagnoses process!

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