Multiple Sclerosis Treatment in Sharjah

What is multiple sclerosis?

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune condition of the central nervous system. The body's defences attack myelin, the fatty sheath that insulates nerve fibres, leaving patches of inflammation and scarring called lesions. Signals travelling along affected nerves slow down or scramble, which explains why symptoms vary so widely from person to person.

Most people are diagnosed as young adults, and MS is more common in women. Many have a relapsing pattern: episodes of new or worsening symptoms, followed by partial or full recovery. Others experience a gradual, steady change over time. Knowing which pattern you have shapes the treatment plan.

MS care at Dar Al Kamal Hospital, Sharjah is led by our neurologist, who coordinates diagnosis, relapse treatment and ongoing review, and arranges specialist services elsewhere where a treatment calls for them.

Who needs it

MS care is for anyone with suspected or confirmed MS, including people who moved to the UAE with an existing diagnosis and want continuity of care here. Common first symptoms include:

• Blurred or lost vision in one eye, often with pain on moving the eye (optic neuritis)
• Numbness, tingling or a band-like tight feeling around the body or limbs
• Weakness or heaviness in a leg or arm
• Problems with balance, walking or coordination
• An electric-shock sensation down the spine when bending the neck forward
• Double vision, marked fatigue, or new bladder urgency

A single episode of this kind is worth a neurological assessment, since early diagnosis opens the door to earlier treatment. Many other conditions can mimic MS, including vitamin B12 deficiency and some infections, so ruling these out is part of the process. The wider range of neurological care is described on the Neuroscience page.

What happens

Your neurologist takes a detailed history of every episode, including ones that settled years ago, and carries out a full neurological examination.

Diagnosis relies mainly on an MRI scan of the brain and often the spinal cord, arranged through our radiology team, with contrast dye sometimes used to show active inflammation. Lesions in typical locations, appearing at different times, confirm the diagnosis. Blood tests exclude conditions that look similar. A lumbar puncture, which samples the fluid around the spinal cord, is sometimes recommended when the picture is less clear. More on brain and spine imaging is on the neuroimaging page.

Treatment then follows two tracks:

• Relapse treatment. A significant relapse is usually treated with a short course of steroid medicine to calm inflammation and speed recovery. Milder relapses are often left to settle while being monitored.
• Disease-modifying treatment. These long-term medicines reduce the frequency of relapses and the build-up of new lesions. They come as tablets, self-injections or infusions given at intervals. Your neurologist explains the options suited to your pattern of MS, your MRI findings and your life plans. Some infusion therapies are given at specialist MS centres, and these are arranged by referral.

Symptoms such as fatigue, stiffness, nerve pain, bladder problems and low mood each have their own treatments, and are reviewed at every visit.

Preparing for it

Write down each episode you remember: what happened, when it started, and how it recovered. Bring previous MRI scans on disc along with their reports, plus any lumbar puncture results, discharge letters and a full list of medicines, including supplements.

If you were diagnosed abroad, ask your previous neurologist for a summary letter and your treatment history. Families living overseas often keep older records, so request these early.

Women hoping to have a baby should raise pregnancy planning before starting or changing treatment, since some disease-modifying medicines need to be paused well ahead of conception while others suit pregnancy better. Your neurologist plans this with you and your obstetrician.

Afterwards

MS care continues with regular neurologist reviews and repeat MRI scans to check for new activity. Some treatments need routine blood tests for monitoring.

Vitamin D is checked routinely. Low vitamin D is linked to MS activity, and deficiency is very common in the UAE despite the sunshine, because many people spend long hours indoors and covered. Your neurologist advises on testing and supplements.

Heat is a specific issue here. In the UAE summer, a rise in body temperature from heat, a hot shower, exercise or fever can temporarily bring back or worsen old symptoms, such as blurred vision or leg weakness. This is known as Uhthoff's phenomenon, and it settles with cooling. Cool drinks, air-conditioned rest and cooling vests help. If you fast during Ramadan, discuss medicine timing with your neurologist beforehand.

For walking, balance, spasticity and daily-living support, physiotherapy and occupational therapy are arranged by referral; see neurorehabilitation.

Contact the hospital if new symptoms appear and persist, if existing symptoms clearly worsen without heat or infection to explain them, or if a new treatment causes side effects.

Call emergency services straight away for sudden weakness on one side, facial drooping, slurred speech, or a severe sudden headache, as these need emergency assessment; see stroke assessment.

Cost and insurance

Most UAE insurance plans cover neurology consultations, blood tests and MRI scans, and MRI usually needs pre-approval. Disease-modifying medicines are often high-cost and generally require insurer pre-approval with supporting reports, so allow time for this. Dar Al Kamal Hospital, Sharjah can help you check your cover on 06 599 7777.