Clinically Isolated Syndrome is diagnosed when a person has only experienced a single episode of neurologic symptoms (such as visual blurriness, numbness, tingling and weakness of the limbs). It is caused by inflammation and/or loss of the myelin sheath that covers the nerve fibres. It can be associated with future development of MS, but is not always associated with the development of MS. A diagnosis of MS can only be made if a person has experienced two or more attacks occur separated by time (for example 2 months) and affecting different parts of the central nervous system.
Increasing awareness, participation, funding and streamlining communication for MS trials