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Axon

By Julie Stachowiak, Ph.D., About.com

Updated: January 07, 2008

About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by the Medical Review Board

Definition: The hairlike extension of a nerve cell (neuron) that carries a message to the next nerve cell. The axon is covered with myelin.

In multiple sclerosis (MS), the myelin is damaged or destroyed by the immune system (demyelination), leaving a lesion, which slows the speed in which the axon transmits information. In aggressive or progressive forms of MS, the axon itself may be damaged or destroyed.

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