About multiple sclerosis

Risk factors of Multiple sclerosis

The risk factors are extremely different from one another, and most of them can’t be controlled or changed. Researchers are still trying to find out what exactly causes MS.

A link between some viruses and infection and multiple sclerosis was found. It looks like a variety of them can affect the disease. One of them is Epstein-Barr, a virus responsible for mononucleosis.
But there are also a number of different factors, such as:

• Gender: MS is two to three times more likely to occur to women than men.

• Genetics: Although this disease is not hereditary, genetics nevertheless affects the increase in the risk factors of the disease. If one from your immediate family is suffering from MS, the chance that you get diagnosed with the same disease is about 2.5%. When it comes to identical twins, if one person gets diagnosed, the chances that the other will be too is 25 percent.

• Most people are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50. It cannot occur in young children and older adults.

• Geography: MS is more common in areas furthest from the equator. It is particularly interesting that immigrants take over the risk coefficient of MS of the territory they are currently located. If they move from one country to another as children, the risk factor for the newly populated area will immediately apply to them. When it comes to the elderly, it is possible to show up to the next generation. Many scientists believe that this shows a connection between vitamin D and the onset of MS.

• Smoking: A tobacco intake showed to increase the MS risk factor.

• Obesity: The obesity in childhood and adolescence, especially in girls increases a person’s risk of developing MS.