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MS information for health and social care professionals Types of MS

Benign

About 10% of people diagnosed with MS experience only a few relapses with little or no residual disability. If this pattern continues over a period of 15 years or more they are said to have the benign form of MS though clearly this classification can only be made retrospectively.

Graph of benign MS - only a few relapses with little or no residual disability

Relapsing remitting

In about two thirds of people diagnosed, MS takes the form of a series of relapses or attacks, interspersed with periods of remission. On average, a relapse occurs approximately once or twice every two years. Length of relapse may range from 24 hours to a period of weeks or months. While in a period of remission, symptoms, which may have been disabling during relapse, can virtually disappear. A remission can last for months or decades. In some cases, there is some residual damage after a relapse leading to an incremental disability.

Graph of relapsing remitting MS - relapses interspersed with periods of remission, potentially some residual damage after a relapse leading to an incremental disability

Primary progressive

About 10% of people have a chronic condition from onset in which symptoms gradually worsen over a period of years, with neither relapse nor remission.

Graph of primary progressive MS - symptoms gradually worsen over a period of years with neither relapse nor remission

Secondary progressive

About 75% of people whose disease pattern begins with relapsing and remitting symptoms later develop secondary progressive MS (50% of those with relapsing remitting MS develop secondary progressive MS in the first 10 years following diagnosis). In some cases, people with secondary progressive MS continue to experience relapses.

Graph of secondary progressive MS - an initially relapsing and remitting pattern later changes to a progressive pattern

Adapted from Lubin FD, Reingold SC. Defining the clinical course of multiple sclerosis: results of an international survey. Neurology 1996;46(4):907-11.