MS is a chronic autoimmune disease caused when the body triggers an immune response to myelin—the protective sheath surrounding axons (nerve fibers). As a result, nerve impulses travelling to and from the brain and spinal cord are interrupted. Symptoms can be as mild as numbness in the limbs, or as severe as paralysis or loss of vision.
MS is highly episodic, and flares up from time to time; this is the primary characteristic of the Relapsing-Remitting form of disease, or RRMS. Ultimately, however, more than 70% of patients no longer return to a normal ‘baseline’ after a flare up and, instead, experience a steady decline in their disease and increasing disability; this is the Secondary-Progressive form of disease, SPMS—and is the area of unmet greatest medical need being addressed by Artielle.
