Suffering, a concept present in non-cancer patients: multiple sclerosis patients

Abstract

According to the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation, it is estimated that 2.5 million people worldwide suffer from Multiple Sclerosis (MS). MS aetiology is still uncertain, however, its complex pathogenesis and unpredictable clinical course generates intense suffering and represents a continuous challenge for nurses to identify it. The aim of this article is to provide a review of the concept of Suffering in patients with MS, other than cancer patients. For people diagnosed with this disease, suffering becomes a natural human response since symptoms tend to register unpredictable levels of variation in type, severity and progression, leading to an increasing degree of uncertainty. In the health-disease transition processes of people diagnosed with MS who are experiencing suffering, the palliative nursing interventions aimed at the relief of symptoms can increase hope and help people to adapt to future expectations and experience a better transition process.