• Devic's Disease affects the spinal cord and optic nerve.spine x-ray image by Julianna Olah from Fotolia.com
  
  Devic's Disease is an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system that causes damage to the myelin sheaths around the nerves. Myelin sheaths are made of fat which insulates the nerve and helps electrical impulses travel down the nerve. When these sheaths are damaged, the nerve cannot conduct electricity as fast, which causes organs connected to that nerve to malfunction. There are two forms of Devic's Disease: optic neuritis, which affects the optic nerves, and myelitis, which affects the spinal cord.
  
  

Signs and Symptoms of Optic Neuritis

• Inflammation along the nerve sheath can cause eye pain. The pain is usually worse with eye movement and is at its worse within one week of onset. The pain usually resolves on its own within several days. Patients can also experience loss of vision or notice vision changes in one or both eyes. The vision loss usually develops over a period of days or weeks, and may be worse with heat or exercise. In most cases the vision loss is temporary. The disease can also affect color vision, and colors may appear washed out or less vivid than usual.
  
  

Signs and Symptoms of Myelitis

• As with the optic form of this disease, patients may experience pain in the back or neck, along the path of inflammation. They may also have headaches and shooting pains down the arms, legs and around the abdomen. In cases of transverse myelitis, where the inflammation travels through the spinal cord, patients may notice extreme sensitivity to tactile sensations like the touch of clothing or temperature. Others may feel numbness, tingling or burning below the affected area of the spinal cord. There may be weakness in the arms or legs leading to muscle spasms, foot drop and a heavy feeling in the limbs. Severe cases can lead to paralysis. If the nerves of the bowel and bladder are affected, there may be problems with incontinence, difficulty urinating or constipation.
  
  

Signs and Symptoms of Devic's Disease Versus Multiple Sclerosis

• The symptoms of Devic's Disease can be similar to the early stages of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). However, there are some differences between the two. Devic's Disease only affects the spine and optic nerves while MS also affects the brain. Devic's attacks tend to be more frequent and severe than MS flares. On brain MRIs, the brain generally appears normal in patients with Devic's while MS shows areas of inflammation. On spinal MRIs, the spine usually shows larger areas of inflammation with Devic's than with MS. The spinal fluid of those with Devic's does not often show the typical level of antibodies found in patients with MS.