Social Security Disability SSI and MS, or multiple Sclerosis

A recent post was about autoimmune disorders and the need, from my viewpoint, for disability claims examiners to have better training (as in ongoing medical information training) to facilitate greater competency as adjudicators.

Since I'm on the subject of auto-immune disorders, I thought I'd make a few remarks regarding MS, or multiple sclerosis. First off, the inevitable question: if you have multiple sclerosis, should you file for either social security disability or SSI disability. Stock answer (but a very correct one): if your condition prohibits your ability to work, yes, file an application for disability benefits and do it immediately because the disability evaluation process is very long and you need to get your application "in the pipe" to minimize any delay.

There's no doubt that multiple sclerosis can become disabling and one aspect of the disease that is problematic is the fact that it doesn't just exhibit a pattern of exacerbation and remission, but rather a pattern of progressive exacerbation and remission; in other words, the condition can remiss and then return with even stronger symptomology.

MS, like ankylosing spondylitis (a spondylarthropathy, a rheumatic disease, and an autoimmune disorder, one that affects the spine and various other joints, but also, possibly, the eyes and kidneys) is a disorder that seems to surface in younger individuals. Each condition tends to be diagnosed before the age of forty. Both conditions also seem to involve an inherited predisposition. In other words, while MS is not passed on directly, the susceptibility for developing multiple sclerosis does seems to have a genetic basis.

As to cause of origin, again, the two conditions share possible similarities. The current opinions regarding ankylosing spondylitis are that genetically susceptible individuals may have the condition triggered by an external environmental component, perhaps bacteriological. Current opinions regarding multiple sclerosis reflect the notion that MS have a viral trigger. Regarding differences between ankylosing spondylitis, AS appears in twice as many men as women, while the incidence of multiple sclerosis may be 3 to 1 in favor of women.



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