In unmyelinated axons, there are voltage-gated ion channels along the entire length of the axon. Depolarization in one segment depolarizes and opens ion channels in the adjacent segment, which further depolarizes the next segment, etc.
Myelinated axons are built differently. They have stretches of myelinated axon which are (mostly) free of voltage-gated channels, interrupted by nodes of Ranvier that lack myelin but have dense voltage-gated channels. The depolarization at one node has to be sufficient to reach the next node for the signal to propagate.
Normally this is no problem. Thanks to insulating myelin, the signal propagates unattenuated for a long distance. However, if you start to lose myelin then some of the signal is lost along the way (specifically, the current goes to charge the membrane capacitance, which is reduced by myelin) and it may not be enough to open voltage-gated channels at the next node of Ranvier.