No.

While NMO and MS share some similarities, they are not related diseases.

Neuromyelitis optica (NMO, formerly called Devic's Disease) is a demyelinating condition that was once thought to be an aggressive variant of MS, until the discovery of an antibody in the blood of individuals NMO. The antibody is present in about 70 percent of people with NMO, but not found in people with MS.

NMO is often misdiagnosed as multiple sclerosis. Like MS, NMO leads to loss of myelin and can cause attacks of optic neuritis and myelitis (inflammation of the spinal cord.) However, NMO is different from MS in the severity of its attacks and its tendency to solely strike the optic nerves and spinal cord at the beginning of the disease. Symptoms outside of the optic nerves and spinal cord are rare, although certain symptoms, including uncontrollable vomiting and hiccups, are now recognized as relatively specific symptoms of NMO that are due to brain stem involvement.

For more information about NMO, visit the Guthy Jackson Foundation.