Multiple Sclerosis and Demyelinating Diseases

Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory demyelinating disorder of the central nervous system (CNS). This chapter outlines the features of multiple sclerosis and reviews the current practice in diagnosis and management. Multiple sclerosis is the most common cause of neurological disability in young adults, and healthcare costs result in considerable financial burden to society. Various health and lifestyle factors have been proposed to affect relapse activity and progression in multiple sclerosis. The diagnosis of multiple sclerosis requires a clinical presentation suggestive of inflammatory demyelination, together with clinical and/or paraclinical evidence of CNS lesions disseminated in time and space. Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibodies have been the subject of study in demyelinating disease for many years, but it has been with the recent development of highly specific optimised cell-based assays targeting full-length human MOG that understanding of their role has rapidly advanced.