In recent years, the number of publications on Multiple Sclerosis (MS) from Ecuador has seen a significant increase. As a result, the research on the clinical and epidemiological behaviour of the disease has allowed us to make comparisons with other cohorts of patients with MS that come from regions where the prevalence of the disease is high. Nevertheless, Ecuador is still a country in which the prevalence of MS is low with a prevalence that fluctuates between 3 to 5 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. The epidemiological behaviour of MS is very similar to that of european cohorts, for example female patients are the most affected. However, the clinical behaviour of multiple sclerosis differs in terms of cognitive impairment and fatigue being less frequent. The impact of vitamin D on patients with MS is still unknown as only one study has been carried out. This study show that there is a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency in ecuadorian patients, but this does not translate into an increase in prevalence or disability as it does in european populations. Although we have a better understanding of the disease in the country, more studies are necessary, and it is imperative that all ecuadorian patients with MS be included in future studies in order to improve our knowledge about the behaviour of this disease in our region.
Fatiga
Efectos de la Terapia con Campos Magnéticos en los Niveles de Fatiga de las personas con Esclerosis Múltiple.
Introduction: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a demyelinating and neurodegenerative disease of the Central Nervous System. It is the major cause of neurological disability in the young adult. One of the most frequent and refractory symptoms to treatment is fatigue. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of treatment with Magnetic Fields for fatigue produced by MS.
Material and Method: An almost experimental-type intervention study was performed in 14 patients evaluated at the Psychomotor Evaluation Lab and diagnosed with MS (Mc Donald et al) who presented fatigue. The Impact Fatigue Scale (IFS) was applied before and after the treatment with 1750-l magnetic bed was conducted for 4 weeks and 20 minutes, 50 Gauss. Statistics tests used were Spearman and ANOVA within the statistics program. The level of significance was p<0.05.
Results: The sample was composed by women (86%). The most frequent clinical form of MS was the Secondary Progressive (64.3%). Fatigue was found in 92.9% of cases, with an evolution period of 6 months or more. This is one of the symptoms that produced greater disability in these patients. After treatment with magnetic fields there was fatigue improvement in 92.9% of cases according to the evaluation of the fatigue impact scale. Tolerance to treatment was excellent.
Conclusion: Therapy with magnetic fields produced improvement of fatigue symptom in this group of patients with MS, especially in the progressive type.
