heat intolerance

[meg321]

I know I have read a lot on the intolerance of heat but nothing really explaining it in more detail. I would like to have something that would explain it to family that don't get it...

anyone have anything  ??

[meg321]

thanks , that was very good.  I wish i could remember it I hate relying on paper hand outs..but, oh, well...

my eyes are killing me this morning, since you mentioned it Hurt and all blurring, feels like grit in them..i have cateracts all of a sudden, i am thinking mabe my allergies..

Funny how things i have had for so long are suddenly worse now.

thanks, sweetie, have a good day!

meg

[MsWobbles]

Meg,

I'll try to explain what I've read about it:  Picture your nerves as being like wires that have protective plastic coating over them (lets call the plastic coating a myelin sheath).  Then picture areas where the plastic coating has been eaten away - is missing (lets call those demyelinated areas).  Normally, the nerve impulses can travel smoothly over the plastic-coated wires, but in the areas where the plastic coating is missing, the nerve impulse has to jump over the area and may be normally able to do so.  However, heat slows down the nerve impulse somewhat so it has a harder time jumping over the demyelinated areas where the protective coating is missing.  Sometimes the heat actually prevents it from jumping over the area because it isn't travelling fast enough to successfully span the demyelinated area (think about how much farther you can jump from a running jump versus a standing jump).  MSers, for instance, who have visual blurring or other visual symptoms with heat (Uthoff's sign?) usually find that it goes away after cooling down for a while.   And that is my simple explanation for how heat affects MS symptoms.  

Hope it helps your family to understand!

WAF