The researchers found that it is prevalent in about 81 percent of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) — specifically, 83 percent of women with MS and 78 percent of men. They also found that MS fatigue is associated with knock-on symptoms like anxiety, sleepiness, and depression. RELATED: MS, Depression, and Fatigue: Expert Examines How to Break the Vicious Circle
Why Study the Obvious?
I led what could only have been a collective chorus of “DUH!” when I read what seemed to me (and I’ll assume about 81 percent of my fellow people living with multiple sclerosis) completely obvious. It wouldn’t be beyond reason to wonder why a study into something so very obvious would even be done. And then I thought about it less emotionally and more analytically. Maybe documentation, via research studies like this, are exactly what we need (in the short term, at least, while other research into a cure proceeds).
It May Only Be Obvious to Some
Many of us diagnosed for more than a decade or so will remember a time when MS pain was not a widely recognized or accepted symptom of the disease. We were told by our medical teams that there wasn’t any research that showed “MS pain” to be a real thing and that any discomfort we were experiencing must be cause by some other malady. Now, of course, it’s widely accepted that there are several types of pain associated with MS. In fact, pain is considered a common symptom multiple sclerosis by the National MS Society. But without research studies to directly associate pain with MS, we’d still be hearing that it was all in our heads.
‘Obvious’ Research May Lead to Better Treatments
Another reason research into something like MS fatigue is important is so that new and better treatments for symptoms can be developed, tested, and approved. Further studies were presented by the pharmaceutical company Janssen at the 2021 Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS) Forum this past February. These studies highlighted not only the prevalence of fatigue experienced by people with MS, but also its effects on work productivity and activity impairment as well as economic and humanistic burdens of MS fatigue. They even reported information on the use of changes in MS fatigue as a factor in judging MS treatments a success.
Hard Evidence Can Help With Insurance and Disability Benefits, Too
Finally, and at least equally important, elevating awareness of MS fatigue and its associated difficulties can only help when it comes to issues with insurance and disability claims. Often, nonphysical impairments are not taken at equal value (if valued at all) in the determination of disability compensation by governing bodies. Research that proves MS fatigue to be common, significant, impactful on productivity, and with significant knock-on symptoms could help those most in need of it when endeavoring to prove inability to remain employed or when seeking assistance. So while we might make fun of research that tells us what we already know, it’s important to remember that not everyone who needs to know about such things lives our lives informed by our disease. Wishing you and your family the best of health. Cheers, Trevis
