What is a NMO Flare?
Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2017 1:38 pm
Individuals with NMO develop optic neuritis, which causes pain in the eye and vision loss, and transverse myelitis, which causes weakness, numbness, and sometimes paralysis of the arms and legs, along with sensory disturbances and loss of bladder and bowel control. NMO patients can also sometimes develop brain stem involvement which controls basic body functions such as breathing, swallowing, heart rate, blood pressure, consciousness, and whether one is awake or asleep.
NMO leads to loss of myelin, which is a fatty substance that surrounds nerve fibers and helps nerve signals move from cell to cell. The syndrome can also damage nerve fibers and leave areas of broken-down tissue. In the disease process of NMO, for reasons that aren’t yet clear, immune system cells and antibodies attack and destroy myelin cells in the optic nerves, brainstem, and the spinal cord.
There are symptoms that one can watch out for when it comes to NMO. These may include some of the following:
- Pain in the eyes
- Loss of vision
- Weakness or numbness in the arms and legs
- Paralysis of the arms and legs
- Difficulty controlling the bladder or bowels
- Loss of consciousness or tiredness.
- Breathing difficulty
- Uncontrollable vomiting and hiccups
If these are new and worsening symptoms it is important that you follow up with your neurologist or head to the nearest emergency room as they can be signs that you are experiencing a relapse in your NMO.
Also, please keep in mind that you could also be experiencing a pseudo relapse and that it could be an infection causing the symptoms, particularly if they are symptoms that you have experienced before.
For more information please refer to: https://guthyjacksonfoundation.org/neur ... ptica-nmo/ or http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/healthli ... ica_134,43
NMO leads to loss of myelin, which is a fatty substance that surrounds nerve fibers and helps nerve signals move from cell to cell. The syndrome can also damage nerve fibers and leave areas of broken-down tissue. In the disease process of NMO, for reasons that aren’t yet clear, immune system cells and antibodies attack and destroy myelin cells in the optic nerves, brainstem, and the spinal cord.
There are symptoms that one can watch out for when it comes to NMO. These may include some of the following:
- Pain in the eyes
- Loss of vision
- Weakness or numbness in the arms and legs
- Paralysis of the arms and legs
- Difficulty controlling the bladder or bowels
- Loss of consciousness or tiredness.
- Breathing difficulty
- Uncontrollable vomiting and hiccups
If these are new and worsening symptoms it is important that you follow up with your neurologist or head to the nearest emergency room as they can be signs that you are experiencing a relapse in your NMO.
Also, please keep in mind that you could also be experiencing a pseudo relapse and that it could be an infection causing the symptoms, particularly if they are symptoms that you have experienced before.
For more information please refer to: https://guthyjacksonfoundation.org/neur ... ptica-nmo/ or http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/healthli ... ica_134,43