Editing Multiple sclerosis (section)

=== Historical cases ===
[[File:Animal locomotion. Plate 541 (Boston Public Library).jpg|thumb|Photographic study of locomotion of a woman with MS with walking difficulties created in 1887 by [[Muybridge]]]]

There are several historical accounts of people who probably had MS and lived before or shortly after the disease was described by Charcot.

A young woman called Halldora who lived in [[Iceland]] around 1200 suddenly lost her vision and mobility but recovered them seven days after. [[Saint Lidwina]] of [[Schiedam]] (1380–1433), a Dutch [[nun]], may be one of the first clearly identifiable people with MS. From the age of 16 until her death at 53, she had intermittent pain, weakness of the legs and vision loss: symptoms typical of MS.<ref name="pmid390966">{{cite journal | vauthors = Medaer R | title = Does the history of multiple sclerosis go back as far as the 14th century? | journal = Acta Neurologica Scandinavica | volume = 60 | issue = 3 | pages = 189–92 | date = September 1979 | pmid = 390966 | doi = 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1979.tb08970.x | s2cid = 221422840 }}</ref> Both cases have led to the proposal of a "Viking gene" hypothesis for the dissemination of the disease.<ref name="pmid16479124">{{cite journal | vauthors = Holmøy T | title = A Norse contribution to the history of neurological diseases | journal = European Neurology | volume = 55 | issue = 1 | pages = 57–8 | year = 2006 | pmid = 16479124 | doi = 10.1159/000091431 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

[[Augustus d'Este|Augustus Frederick d'Este]] (1794–1848), son of [[Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex]] and [[Lady Augusta Murray]] and a grandson of [[George&nbsp;III of the United Kingdom]], almost certainly had MS. D'Este left a detailed diary describing his 22 years living with the disease. His diary began in 1822 and ended in 1846, although it remained unknown until 1948. His symptoms began at age 28 with a sudden transient visual loss ([[amaurosis fugax]]) after the funeral of a friend. During his disease, he developed weakness in the legs, clumsiness of the hands, numbness, dizziness, bladder disturbance and [[erectile dysfunction]]. In 1844, he began to use a wheelchair. Despite his illness, he kept an optimistic view of life.<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Firth D |title= The Case of August D'Esté |year=1948|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge}}</ref><ref name="pmid16103678">{{cite journal | vauthors = Pearce JM | title = Historical descriptions of multiple sclerosis | journal = European Neurology | volume = 54 | issue = 1 | pages = 49–53 | year = 2005 | pmid = 16103678 | doi = 10.1159/000087387 | doi-access = free }}</ref> Another early account of MS was kept by the British diarist [[W. N. P. Barbellion]], pen name of Bruce Frederick Cummings (1889–1919), who maintained a detailed log of his diagnosis and struggle.<ref name="pmid16103678" /> His diary was published in 1919 as ''[[The Journal of a Disappointed Man]]''.<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Barbellion WN |title= The Journal of a Disappointed Man |url= https://archive.org/details/journaladisappo00wellgoog|year=1919|publisher=George H. Doran|location=New York|isbn= 0-7012-1906-8}}</ref> [[Charles Dickens]], a keen observer, described possible bilateral [[optic neuritis]] with reduced contrast vision and [[Uhthoff's phenomenon]] in the main female character of ''[[Bleak House]]'' (1852–1853), Esther Summerson.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Petzold A | title = Optic Neuritis: Another Dickensian Diagnosis | journal = Neuro-Ophthalmology | volume = 37 | issue = 6 | pages = 247–250 | date = 2013 | pmid = 28167994 | pmc = 5291069 | doi = 10.3109/01658107.2013.830313 }}</ref>