Multiple Sclerosis and Eye Care

MS is the most common disorder (demyelinating) of t he central nervous system. More than 350,000 people in the United States are estimated to have MS and the prevalence of this in increasing. Almost half of the patients present with ocular (eye) findings. Early diagnosis and treatment with disease-modifying therapies can delay the development of future clinical events and overall disease progression. The eye findings include optic neuritis (inflammation of the optic nerve), eye movement dysfunction, nerve palsies (beating eye movements), uveitis (inflammation of the blood vessel layer of the eye and blood vessel inflammation (retinal periphlebitis).