The Role of Smoking on Patient with Multiple Sclerosis, Three Cases from Vlora City

Abstract

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, inflammatory disorder of the central nervous system (CNS) with presumed autoimmune etiology. Lifestyle changes such as quitting smoking or reducing smoking doses, alcoholabstinence and maintaininghealthy weight are important for treatment success. Smoking has negative effect on MS patients, by worsening symptoms, creating more relapses and making it harder to treat the disease. Smoking MS patients that quit, may improve their condition. Method and materials: this study is performed in the hospital of Vlore during 2019 and we interviewed three MS hospitalized patients. We used 15 questions interview to get the patients opinion and information. They voluntarily participated in this study. Results: We interviewed three patients, from whom two smoked and one never did. The condition of the patients who smoked clearly became worse from the smoking, while the patient who did not smoke had a better prognosis by keeping the condition stable. One of the patients who smoked had quit two years ago. The three patients were aware of the negative effects that smoking had on their condition. Conclusions: Life quality of two of our patients changed when one of them started smoking and when one quit, the third keeps on deteriorating. In Albania there is an undisputable need to conduct such studies in order to follow up patients with MS, their smoking and the effect that it has on the progress of the disease.