MS is a complex disease that can present and evolve differently. Diagnosing MS is not always straightforward, as there’s no single symptom, physical finding or blood test to confirm if a person has MS. What’s more, some of the early signs or symptoms of MS can be caused by other conditions.
If you’ve not been feeling like yourself or are worried you’ve been experiencing MS symptoms, help is available. Health professionals can provide answers, support and guide you before, during and after a diagnosis.
Whether you have MS or not, reaching out to an MS nurse or your GP (general practitioner) to investigate your concerns is always the right decision for your health. They will listen to your story, take a detailed history of your symptoms and undertake physical and neurological exams. You may then be referred to a neurologist for further tests so you can get an accurate diagnosis.
You can watch our two part series with MS Nurse, Dr Therese Burke AM recorded in May 2024. In part one, Therese discusses what to do when you think you may have MS, and in part two, covers the diagnosis process and how to cope if you are waiting for a diagnosis to be confirmed.
There’s no single formula or test to diagnose MS, as it can look different in everyone. There can be many reasons your body is showing symptoms of MS. However, there are two key criteria that are used as a basic rule to diagnose MS.
An attack is any relapse, flare-up or worsening of one or more MS symptoms that lasts at least 24 hours. It’s important there are two attacks separated in time to establish it’s not a one-off incident.
Myelin is a layer or sheath that protects the nerves in the brain and spinal cord. It allows your brain to send signals to your body, telling it what to do or how to respond. With MS, the immune system attacks and damages myelin, affecting its ability to send messages between your brain and other parts of the body.
If there’s more than one area of damage to myelin that happened on more than one occasion, it could point to having MS. Your health specialist will also ensure the damage hasn’t been caused by another disease.
There are a variety of tests to determine if you have MS. Read on to discover some of the methods used to reach a diagnosis.
MRIs are a medical imaging scan used to detect damage or scarring (i.e., lesions) caused by MS in the central nervous system, which is made up of the brain, optic nerves and spinal cord.
An MS diagnosis may not rely solely on an MRI result, as it’s possible for it to detect:
Sometimes, your medical history and results of other clinical testing can point to having MS. Your MRI results are one piece of the puzzle to create a clear MS diagnosis. Read more about MRIs and MS.
During a clinical exam, a doctor will examine you for a range of symptoms, including:
Your medical history is also taken into consideration.
In many cases, an MRI scan and clinical exams will be enough to diagnose MS. If results are unclear, additional tests may be needed. This can include:
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