The image shows 4 bright spots where MS has damaged myelin in the brain
MS causes gradual destruction of myelin and transection of neuron axons in patches throughout the brain and spinal cord and refers to the multiple scars on the myelin sheaths.
The scarring causes symptoms.
The white matter contains blood vessels that supply the nervous system with oxygen and food. Inflammation in MS often occurs around the blood vessels. The inflammation of the white matter causes inflammatory cells and fluid to come out of the blood and cause swelling, and the myelin can start to break down.
When this happens the transmission of information is made more difficult in the places that inflammation has occurred
WHEN DOES DEMYELINATION OCCUR?
Demyelination occurs when the white matter/myelin sheath starts to break up involving the number of places where inflammation occurs and the severity of the inflammation.
The myelin coating around the nerve fibres gradually disappears because the layer of myelin is – as it were – eaten away by special inflammation cells. The myelin layer gradually becomes thinner and thinner. This makes it more difficult for the nerve fibres to transmit information
