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Alexander Wallerson was 12 years old when he saw a popular film with his mother. Now 26, he remembers that day. It was the first time that he was experiencing signs of multiple sclerosis (MS). "I walked as if I were drunk," says Wallerson, who lives in New Brunswick. "I was limping but I did not hurt."
Her mother, a nurse, was worried and brought her to their family doctor. Imaging tests revealed that Wallerson had recurrent-relapsing MS.
It is estimated that more than 8,000 American children are currently fighting MS. The most common manifestations of the disease are: visual impairment, transverse myelitis, arm-leg weakness, sensory disturbances, inflammation of the spinal cord or problems with balance. And like most diseases, early intervention offers the greatest hope of alleviating patients' symptoms.
Pediatric Neurologist Vikram Bhise, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Head of Division of Child Neurology and Neurodevelopment Disorders at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, has dedicated his career to treating MS and other central demyelinating diseases .
As the only pediatric program dedicated to MS in the state, Rutgers Health strives to provide state-of-the-art therapies, patient and family education, as well as access to clinical trials. A comprehensive care plan is developed for each patient to address education, cognition, social functioning, mental health, daily activities and quality of life. The disease is often more inflammatory in children, which causes younger patients to be attacked more often than adults. The goal is to prevent further relapses by combining disease-modifying medical treatments with complementary treatments, such as physical therapy, to preserve function.
Every day a patient lives with MS, the disease is unfavorable. The challenge is not knowing if what we are doing now will be effective in the future. "
Vikram Bhise, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Head of the Division of Child Neurology and Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Rutgers School of Medicine Robert Wood Johnson
Like Wallerson, many patients experience movement and motion problems for the first time. Other signs of MS include sensory problems, such as numbness and tingling in the body; blurred vision, eye pain and / or color desaturation; urinary leak or emergency.
The high school years of Wallerson were punctuated with brief episodes of double vision, numbness of the right side and weakness of the left side. He discussed these issues with Dr. Bhise, who prescribed him a regimen of Rebif injections every other day. Throughout his teenage years, Wallerson continued to play tennis and exercise, and he followed a healthy diet. He suffered only a major attack in high school and managed to graduate at the top of his clbad, raising scholarships.
For Wallerson, the potential loss of dexterity prevented him from becoming a neurosurgeon. Instead, he studied information technology at Rutgers University and is now a 3D modeler for a solar energy company.
Source:
Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson School of Medicine
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