{"id":131323,"date":"2025-08-09T09:00:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-09T09:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/131323\/"},"modified":"2025-08-09T09:00:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-09T09:00:14","slug":"subtle-symptoms-that-appear-years-before-diagnosis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/131323\/","title":{"rendered":"Subtle Symptoms That Appear Years Before Diagnosis"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s easy to assume that you\u2019d know when you\u2019re dealing with a disease as serious as multiple sclerosis. But it can take years<\/a> for people with MS to get a proper diagnosis.<\/p>\n

Now, new research suggests that subtle symptoms of the disease may show up even 15 years before someone gets diagnosed with MS. <\/p>\n

In case you\u2019re not familiar with it, MS (multiple sclerosis) is a chronic condition where the body\u2019s immune system mistakenly attacks the protective covering of nerve fibers. People can experience a range of symptoms with MS, including vision problems, muscle weakness, tingling in the arms and legs, and muscle spasms, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke<\/a> (NINDS). Some people with MS will eventually develop partial or complete paralysis, per NINDS. <\/p>\n

The findings of the new JAMA Network Open<\/a> study are shocking, and raise a lot of questions about how people can tell if their symptoms are due to something minor or a condition as serious as MS. Here\u2019s what neurologists want you to know. <\/p>\n

Meet the experts<\/strong>: Clifford Segil,<\/strong><\/a> DO, is a neurologist at Providence Saint John\u2019s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA; Amit Sachdev,<\/strong><\/a> MD, MS, is the medical director in the Department of Neurology at Michigan State University.<\/p>\n

What did the study find?<\/strong><\/p>\n

For the study, researchers analyzed the health records of about 2,000 people in British Columbia. They discovered that people who were eventually diagnosed with MS started interacting with the healthcare system more frequently 15 years before they first had symptoms that were later identified as being due to MS.<\/p>\n

Every person\u2019s health journey was different, but the researchers were able to pick up general trends. People who were eventually diagnosed with MS started seeing general practitioners more frequently 15 years before they were diagnosed for symptoms like fatigue, pain, dizziness, and mental health conditions like anxiety and depression. <\/p>\n

Related Stories<\/p>\n

In the 12 years before their diagnosis, the patients saw a psychiatrist more often. Eight to nine years before a diagnosis, they had more frequent visits to neurologists and eye doctors, which may have been linked to blurry vision<\/a> or eye pain. <\/p>\n

Three to five years before they were diagnosed, they visited the ER and had radiology visits more often. A year before their diagnosis, the patients saw physicians more often across a range of specialties, including neurology, emergency medicine, and radiology.<\/p>\n

This suggests \u201cthat MS may have started earlier than previously thought,\u201d the researchers wrote in the conclusion.<\/p>\n

Why might MS be so hard to detect this early?<\/strong><\/p>\n

MS can look slightly different for everyone, and there is a wide range of symptoms, points out Amit Sachdev,<\/strong><\/a> MD, MS, medical director in the Department of Neurology at Michigan State University.<\/p>\n

MS is an autoimmune disease, and it can cause inflammation<\/a> throughout the body, he explains. \u201cWith excess inflammation, the body may feel generally dysfunctional,\u201d Sachdev says. Meaning, you can feel lousy overall or in a lot of areas, making it hard for doctors (and you) to pin down what could be behind this. <\/p>\n

People with MS can also struggle with fatigue, which can be a tough symptom to tie to any one condition, Sachdev says. <\/p>\n

Symptoms like pain, mood changes, and fatigue tend to be linked more to an MS diagnosis after it’s made, because they can be due to a range of health conditions, says Clifford Segil,<\/strong><\/a> DO, a neurologist at Providence Saint John\u2019s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA. He says he tends to discover these symptoms when he looks back at patient\u2019s health history after an MS diagnosis. <\/p>\n

What should you do if you\u2019re having these symptoms?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Doctors say it\u2019s a stretch to suggest that you should assume you have MS if you\u2019re only dealing with fatigue or mood changes. But Sachdev says you also shouldn\u2019t brush off symptoms that just don\u2019t quit. <\/p>\n

\u201cHealth is deeply personal. To manage it, you need to begin with a provider that connects with you,\u201d he says. \u201cIdeally, you would begin with a single observation or concern that is bothersome. Focusing on this issue with that provider is the place to start.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Segil stresses the importance of seeing a specialist if you\u2019re dealing with several symptoms you really can\u2019t explain. \u201cWhenever you have a constellation of symptoms which are without a clear medical diagnosis, seeing a neurologist may be wise,\u201d he says. They can help take a careful assessment of your health history, along with ordering testing, to see what could be going on.
<\/p>\n

\"Headshot<\/p>\n

Korin Miller is a freelance writer specializing in general wellness, sexual health and relationships, and lifestyle trends, with work appearing in Men\u2019s Health, Women\u2019s Health, Self, Glamour, and more. She has a master\u2019s degree from American University, lives by the beach, and hopes to own a teacup pig and taco truck one day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s easy to assume that you\u2019d know when you\u2019re dealing with a disease as serious as multiple sclerosis.…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":131324,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[67153,10020,79825,29669,210,31290,43462,912,79826,79827,67,132,68,79828,79829],"class_list":{"0":"post-131323","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-autoimmune-disease","9":"tag-diagnosis","10":"tag-early-symptoms","11":"tag-fatigue","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-ms","14":"tag-multiple-sclerosis","15":"tag-neurology","16":"tag-subtle-signs","17":"tag-tingling","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-vision-problems","22":"tag-warning-signs"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114997993341584875","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}