Many diseases are associated with lesions in the central nervous system and thus can mimic multiple sclerosis and potentially lead to a misdiagnosis. This post discusses many conditions that mimic MS and evidence that shows that MS and the diseases that mimic MS are all infectious diseases caused parasites.
Prevalence of MS
MS affects approximately one out of every 500 people in Canada and about one out of every thousand in the United States.
Common symptoms of MS
- fatigue
- vertigo
- depression
- numbness
- tingling, vibrations
- pain
- bladder issues
- poor vision
- MS hug
- intolerant to heat
- tremors
- spasticity
- poor balance
MS misdiagnosis
“Misdiagnosis in MS has been an issue that’s been talked about for 40 years,” stated Jeffrey Cohen, MD, director of experimental therapeutics at the Mellen MS Center of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. “And even with refinement of diagnostic criteria and the availability of technologies like MRI, it’s still a problem. There are a significant number of people getting misdiagnosed with MS in part because there’s no single test for it, like a blood test.”[i]
It is estimated that 5 to 10% of people are misdiagnosed which is most commonly due to over diagnosing MS because there are so many conditions that mimic multiple sclerosis.
Misdiagnosis is often due to discrepancies on MRI images as many diseases other than MS also show white spots on MRI images.
Brain lesions on MRI images
MRI images are used to detect abnormalities called lesions or plaque in the brain and spinal cord of patients diagnosed with MS and many other diseases. For an MS diagnosis, lesions must occur over in certain areas of the brain and spinal cord and the numbers of lesions must change over time.
Diseases that mimic MS, can show lesions in similar locations to the ones found in MS patients and lesions in both MS and the diseases that mimic MS can vary in size.
Over many years, a significant effort has been made to attempt to find clear and distinct patterns of lesions for specific diseases. But this effort has not been successful based on the fact that we still don’t know what causes MS, there is no cure, getting an MS diagnosis can be challenging and often lead to a misdiagnosis.
Diseases that Mimic MS
There are over 100 disorders that mimic MS clinically and or on MRI images. Because the diseases that mimic MS have different treatment protocols and different prognosis, it is recommended that a doctor should not make an MS diagnose unless absolutely certain, but this is virtually impossible to accomplish with current tests.
Examples of conditions that mimic multiple sclerosis:
1. Fibromyalgia and MS have many similar symptoms, fibromyalgia can show abnormal MRI results and is associated with an increased risk of deep white matter lesions.[ii][iii]
2. Migraine is a common condition that mimics multiple sclerosis and can cause a terrible throbbing headache, sensitivity to light, sounds or smells, nausea and vomiting, blurred vision, light-headedness and fainting.
3. Small vessel ischemic changes are the result of a variety of changes that occur in small blood vessels of the brain. About 3% of people over the age of 40 have white matter lesions in the brain.
4. Vasculitis causes inflammation of blood vessels walls and is associated with brain white matter spots that mimic MS. It can cause headaches, numbness, tingling, weakness in the hands and feet, double vision, night sweats, fever, stomach pain and central nervous system lupus.
5. Bechtel disease is a rare chronic inflammatory vasculitis. Young males are affected more often. It causes skin and arthritic symptoms and lesions in the brain grey matter.
6. Susac syndrome is considered an autoimmune disease. It is more common in females 20 to 40 years of age and can cause hearing and vision loss. White matter lesions are present in the brain. This condition causes cognitive issues early on and hearing loss.
7. CADASIL is a disease associated with white matter lesions in the brain. This condition causes blood vessel walls to thicken and block the flow of blood to the brain. Symptoms include migraine headaches, strokes and dementia.[iv]
8. Neurosweet syndrome is a rare inflammatory skin condition that may be associated with malignancies, drugs, and infections and is characterized by high fever and tender skin lesions. This disease shows deep grey matter and thalamus lesions in the brain.
9. Neuro Lyme disease and MS have many symptoms in common and both show brain and spinal nerve white matter lesions on MRI images.
10. ADEM is considered an autoimmune demyelinating disease which occurs after infection or vaccination. It can occur at any age and mostly males are affected. It presents brain and or spinal cord lesions on MRI images.
11. Marburg occurs in younger patients. It causes widespread demyelination and brain lesions with an incomplete ring of enhancement.
12. Balo concentric sclerosis is a rare and severe condition that can cause large white matter lesions in the CNS.
13. Tumefactive demyelinating lesion is a single, large lesion greater than 2 cm in size.
14. Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) or Devic’s disease causes lesions in the brain and spinal cord and damages the spinal cord and optic nerves in the eyes. It is thought to be an autoimmune disease.
15. AIDS PML is a demyelination disease caused by the JC virus that can cause death within months without treatment.
16. MS treatment related PML which is caused by the JC virus and is an adverse effect of the MS drug Tysabri.
17. Neurosarcoidosis causes inflammation in the brain and spinal cord. Symptoms include optic neuritis, cranial neuropathy, peripheral neuropathy, myopathy and chronic meningitis.
Examples of parasites that cause lesions in the brain and spinal cord
1. The fungus Histoplasmomas and the protozoa that causes Toxoplasmosis both cause cerebral ring enhancing lesions in the CNS.[v][vi]
2. Tapeworm larval cysts that cause neurocysticercosis and tuberculomas caused by metastatic tuberculosis also both cause enhancing lesions in the CNS.[vii]
3. Protozoa Plasmodium species P.falciparum, P. vivax, P. malariae, P. ovale all cause lesions in the CNS.
4. The flatworm Echinococcus multilocularis that causes alveolar hydatid disease causes contrast-enhancing round, solid lesions in the CNS.
5. Chagas’ disease is caused by the protozoa Trypanosoma cruzi which causes lesions similar to toxoplasmosis lesions.
6. Granulomatous amoebic encephalitis is caused by a free-living ameba that causes single or multiple ring-enhancing lesions in the grey and white matter of the brain.
7. The lung fluke Paragonimus causes inflammatory changes in tissue surrounding clusters of lesions. It most commonly affects the frontal and temporal grey and white matter of the brain.
8. The fluke that causes Schistosomiasis causes hyperintense lesions mostly in the spinal cord while other species may cause lesions throughout CNS.
9. Sparganosis, a disease caused by larval tapeworms can show contrast-enhancing lesions in the shape of the worm.
Where do we go from here?
I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 35 years ago and yet today, we are still no closer to finding a cure for multiple sclerosis. We now have hundreds of diseases that can cause inflammation and lesions in different parts of the brain and spinal cord and for the vast majority of these diseases, there is no cure.
In MS standard of care, the experts that dictate the guidelines for diagnosing and treating MS are only concerned about specific clinical symptoms and characteristic lesions present in the central nervous system over space and time. They don’t know what causes the lesions but assume that the immune system is attacking the inflamed damaged nerves for some unknown reason. They find no value in studying the spinal fluid of MS patients for parasites.
Yet in the world of parasitology, it is well-established that the CNS is not a sterile environment and that many parasites can cause lesions in the CNS. Lesions are the result of the immune system attacking the parasites. The immune systems main job is to defend the body from infection. Inflammation is the warzone where the immune system is battling infection.
Pathologist Dr. Alan MacDonald discovered filarial nematodes and tapeworm larval cysts in the central nervous system of every MS subject he tested. He did this research with a very modest budget. In contrast, millions of dollars have been devoted to MS research for more than 40 years and we still don’t have an accurate test for MS and there is no cure.
Why is there such a lack of interest in finding the cause of multiple sclerosis? If parasites cause lesions in the central nervous system, why are we not looking for parasites as a possible cause for MS and for the hundreds of other diseases that mimic MS.
Our standard of care is not interested in getting to the root cause of disease. Instead it leaves people without hope and causes them to endure a lifetime of suffering, financial hardship and premature death.
It’s time for change! It is time for us to take responsibility for our health and to learn how to take back our health and our life – to create health, versus managing sickness.
There are real solutions to recover from parasites today!
To restore health, we must focus on treating the cause of inflammation, which are parasites. First, identify the enemy (parasites), then support the body and treat the parasites while following a holistic approach. When parasitic infections are treated effectively, we can overcome inflammation or disease.
If you’re frustrated with the fact that our standard of care STILL doesn’t offer a real solution for treating MS and other diseases, then click on the link below to watch Pam Bartha’s free masterclass training and discover REAL solutions that have allowed Pam and many others to live free from MS and other diseases.
CLICK Here to watch Pam’s masterclass training
Or take the Health Blocker Quiz to see if you could have parasite infections
References:
Imaging of White Matter Lesions
Neuroparasitic Infections: Cestodes, Trematodes, and Protozoans
Unexpected hosts: imaging parasitic diseases
[i] https://www.everydayhealth.com/multiple-sclerosis/symptoms/conditions-commonly-mistaken-multiple-sclerosis/#:~:text=Vasculitis,and%20feet%3B%20and%20double%20vision.
[ii] https://www.everydayhealth.com/multiple-sclerosis/symptoms/conditions-commonly-mistaken-multiple-sclerosis/#:~:text=Vasculitis,and%20feet%3B%20and%20double%20vision.
[iii] https://ajp.amjpathol.org/article/S0002-9440(21)00073-0/fulltext
[iv] https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/diseases/1049/cadasil
[v] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2931772/#:~:text=A%20single%20enhancing%20lesion%20in,the%20pork%20tapeworm%2C%20Taenia%20solium.
[vi] https://www.ccjm.org/content/84/2/104#:~:text=Toxoplasmosis%20and%20primary%20central%20nervous,and%20tuberculomas%20are%20more%20common
[vii] https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/tuberculoma
Clinically diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at the age of 28, Pam chose an alternative approach to recovery. Now decades later and still symptom free, she coaches others on how to treat the root cause of chronic disease, using a holistic approach. She can teach you how, too.
Pam is the author of Become a Wellness Champion and founder of Live Disease Free. She is a wellness expert, coach and speaker.
The Live Disease Free Academy has helped hundreds of Wellness Champions in over 15 countries take charge of their health and experience profound improvements in their life.
