I was fortunate to visit and shadow in MS clinic this week with Dr. Gauthier. She is an expert in MS. Before the shadow with her, I read about the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease. MS is known to be a disease with no cure and not fatal, yet it can affect patients' lifestyles a lot. During reading materials about the disease, one of the TED talk (attached below) I found from a patient inspired me very much.
What impressed me more was the actual shadow experience in the clinic. I observed several patients' visits. It was touching that two of them came accompanied by their husbands. Essentially, MS is a demyelinating and autoimmune disease where immune system mistakenly attacks the myelin in the nervous systems. The primary lesions normally occur in the white matter in the brain and the spinal cords. Most of the patients I saw in the shadow have difficulty walking. They became tired quickly after short distance walk. One of the patients even fell and broke the ankle during walking. So, even though the disease itself is not fatal, it hurts the quality of life in various aspects. I felt sorry for the fact and felt motivated because I knew now the research current I am undertaking could potentially help in some way. This motivation became even stronger when one of the patients was unable to be identified MS since the current information shown in T1/T2 MRI images cannot provide enough clues for the doctor. Dr. Gauthier told me that is where QSM should be useful. I also learned that not only do the doctors and researchers are actively learning and studying about the disease but also the patients! I was so amazed that one of the patients is learning about a cell-related technique and also is working with an OCT team to help conduct a research project.
For the next week, I decided to talk more with my advisor and see as much as possible in the clinic as well. After all, I am still curious about so many things.
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