Occupational, Health and Function Assignment

Occupation, Health and Function Assignment
This assignment will discuss the impact of Multiple Sclerosis on the person and what problems they may encounter.   The assignment will then go on to describe the dysfunctions on a person’s life and how certain activities promote health and wellbeing for the needs of the individual.
Multiple Sclerosis, or MS, is a chronic degenerative disease of the central nervous system. Though the disease only targets the brain and spinal cord, the effects on these areas cause symptoms to develop throughout the entire body.   It involves the ongoing destruction of the Myelin sheaths around the neurons in the brain and spinal cord (Tipping.L, 2002).   Multiple Sclerosis is a disease of the white matter tissue.   The white matter is made up of nerve fibers which are responsible for transmitting communication signals within the central nervous system and the nerves which supply the rest of the body.   The transmission of impulses by neurons and signals sent throughout the central nervous system get disrupted with the disease.   The word ‘multiple scleroses’ literally mean many scars and for a great number of patients this is what the disease entails (Louis & Rosner, 2008).
Multiple Sclerosis is not fatal but can have a deliberating impact on a person’s life.   Consequently people with Multiple Sclerosis and their informal caregivers must often manage the consequences of this unpredictable disease for 40 years or more. The consequences for people with Multiple Sclerosis include difficulties in maintaining employment; participating in social, recreational and leisure activities; performing household maintenance and self care (Burks and Johnson 2000).
The symptoms and progression may vary widely and it is hard to predict how an individual’s dysfunction will be affected.
Some early symptoms include tiredness, clumsiness and tingling sensations.   The disease usually takes years to progress and the person can experience periods of remission where...