- Blurred or double vision
- Red-green color distortion
- Blindness in one eye
- Muscle weakness in extremities
- Difficulty with coordination and balance
Why are women more likely to develop MS?
“Women are more likely to develop autoimmune diseases in general,” Dr. Lannen says. “MS is no exception.”
There are a lot of “different complex factors” involved in this, including hormonal differences, protein levels, and immune system differences, Dr. Lannen says. Testosterone, which is thought to help protect against MS, is also found in lower levels in women, he points out.
“We are still working to try to figure this out,” Dr. Voskuhl says. “It could be due to sex hormones, sex chromosomes, or both.”
What to do if you have symptoms of MS
MS can affect the brain in several places at different times, making it tough to get a proper diagnosis, Dr. Voskuhl says. “It can affect vision one time, cognition another, and coordination another,” she explains. “Symptoms can also come and go. That makes it difficult to diagnose.”
Still, she says, “diagnosis is a lot easier than it used to be before we had MRIs.” An MRI can show lesions on the brain that lead to MS symptoms, making this a vital tool for diagnosing the disease.
If you’re having symptoms of the disease and aren’t getting relief from treatment for those particular symptoms, it’s worth at least asking your doctor if it could be MS. Throwing it out there could help you get a diagnosis sooner rather than later—or rule out MS entirely.
To learn more about MS, check out the video below!
