How do you answer the question, “What is MS?”? It’s such a complicated disease, most adults – even those who have it – don’t always know how to explain it to people. Next time you are searching for an easy way to describe what MS does inside the body, just think of an extension cord and the answer will be Exposed!
Here’s how:
Step 1:
Using an unplugged extension cord, cut the cord to show how the rubber is protecting the bundled wires inside. Explain that the bundled wires are like our nerves and they have a protecting coating too called the myelin sheath.
Step 2:
On various part of the extension cord, scrape away strips of the rubber to expose the wires inside. Multiple Sclerosis chips away the protective coating around the nerves (myelin sheath) exposing them. When the nerves are exposed, they become damaged.
Step 3:
Pull some of the wires out of the cord and separate them so the child can see that it’s not just one single wire inside the cord. Explain that is similar to the nerves in our body. And just like the cord needs every single wire to operate properly, our bodies need every single nerve to fully function. Any nerve that is damaged will create some kind and level of difficulty for our body.
