Who can develop MS?
Ongoing research is still being conducted to determine the cause of MS but scientists believe that genetic and environmental factors contribute to the development of MS. The various factors listed below are linked to an increase in risk of MS (Pantazou, Schluep & Du Pasquier, 2015).
Ongoing research is still being conducted to determine the cause of MS but scientists believe that genetic and environmental factors contribute to the development of MS. The various factors listed below are linked to an increase in risk of MS (Pantazou, Schluep & Du Pasquier, 2015).
Family History The risk in individuals increases in proportion to the amount of shared genetic information. Monozygotic twins have a risk of around 25-30% of developing MS. Dizygotic twins have twice the risk of developing MS compared to siblings (2-3%) even though they have the same genetic relationship (Goodin, 2014).
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Epstein-Barr virusEpstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a double stranded DNA virus from the herpes family and it infects around 90% of the general population. Primary infections usually occur in early childhood and is asymptomatic. When it occurs in adolescence or adulthood, it often causes acute febrile illness which is known as infectious mononucleosis. EBV infection in childhood increases MS risk by ten times whereas MS risk is about 20 times greater among individuals who developed mononucleosis during adolescence (Coreale & Gaitan, 2015; Pantazou et al., 2015).
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LatitudeLatitude is one of the most strongly associated risk factor with developing MS. Research shows that people who spend their first 15 years in higher latitude locations are more likely to get MS. These countries include Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The further one goes away from the equator, the higher incidence of MS development. This is related to the amount of ultra-violet radiation. Higher latitude areas receive less potent ultra-violet radiation exposure due to increase in the angle at which the sunlight strikes the Earth (Ebers, 2008; Pantazou et al., 2015).
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Vitamin D DeficiencyVitamin D deficiency increases MS risk. It has also been associated with an increased risk of relapse and a more rapid progression of the disease. It is thought that Vitamin D modulates the immune response and may help protect against immune-mediated diseases. As the major source of vitamin D for most people is exposure to ultra-violet radiation, the higher incidence of MS at higher latitude could be due to vitamin D deficiency (Ascherio et al., 2016; Coreale et al., 2015).
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SmokingSmoking increases risk of developing MS due to lung irritation. Cigarette smoke causes inflammatory responses in cells of the lungs where autoimmune memory cells are present. After stimulation, these cells could potentially proliferate and reach the CNS to trigger MS (Pantazou et al., 2015).
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