MS Increasingly A Woman's Disease

Steady Rise In Rates Of Multiple Sclerosis Seen In Women

(WebMD)  Women with multiple sclerosis (MS) now appear to outnumber men with the disease by a ratio of four to one in the United States, new research shows.

The review of data from a voluntary MS registry suggests a steady increase in MS rates among women over time, while rates among men appear to have remained stable.

In 1940, twice as many women as men in the United States had multiple sclerosis. By 2000, four out of five cases were occurring among women, University of Alabama professor of biostatistics Gary Cutter, PhD, tells WebMD.

That represents an increase in the ratio of women to men of nearly 50 percent per decade, and it mirrors recent findings from other countries with more comprehensive MS registries, including Canada, Norway, and Denmark.

It is not clear why MS rates seem to be increasing only among women, but the observation could help researchers searching for the cause or causes of the disease, Cutter says.

Some believe that environmental or viral influences early in life trigger the disease in people who are genetically predisposed toward getting it. Though there are many theories about what these triggers are, there is no proof that any of them cause MS.

MS is a disease that affects the brain and spinal cord. Experts believe that it is due to an abnormal response of the immune system attacking the myelin sheath that surrounds nerve fibers. Myelin is needed for sending nerve signals such as those that control movement. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society estimates that 400,000 Americans have MS.

Searching for Clues

"We have to ask ourselves, 'What has been going on over the last 50 years or so that would affect women more than men?'" Cutter says.

During that time, obesity and smoking rates have increased among women, the oral contraceptive was introduced, and there has been a trend toward earlier menstruation and later childbirth.

These factors influence levels of the sex hormones, and there is some evidence that sex hormones play a role in MS by suppressing the immune system.

Most women with MS have fewer symptoms of the disease during pregnancy. After delivery, symptoms often return.

The sex hormone connection is just one avenue that needs to be explored, Cutter says.

He is scheduled to present findings from the study at next week's 59th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in Boston.

Probably No Single Cause

"We also need to ask the general questions about what women do differently than men, such as use of hair dye and use of cosmetics that may block vitamin D absorption," he says in a news release. "At this point we are just speculating on avenues of research that could be pursued."

MS rates are highest among people living farthest from the equator, leading to speculation that vitamin D deficiency due to low sun exposure contributes to the disease.

MS researcher and clinician Gary Birnbaum, MD, tells WebMD that there probably isn't any single "smoking gun" that can explain all cases of MS.

Birnbaum directs the Multiple Sclerosis Treatment and Research Center at the Minneapolis Clinic of Neurology in Golden Valley, Minn. He is also a clinical professor of neurology at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine.

"If it were that simple we probably would have been able to figure it out by now," he says. "MS may not be a single disease. It may be a syndrome. The pathway may actually be very different for different people."

[hunter10039]

WHAT ABOUT ALL THE LIPSTICK AND OTHER MAKE-UP THAT MOST WOMEN WEAR, WHEN THEY ARE ENTERED INTO THE "WORK-PLACE"?

They are a deadly cocktail of terrible combinations of chemicals!

and the skin on the lips is so thin! (and subject to absorbtion so readily)

before the WW2 war, most women stayed home and wore no make-up.

[mickeyj65]

Over the last few decades Women have moved out of the home and into the stressful environment of the work place. This has not only been a trend in the US, but in most developed countries. This is the main reason for the increase. Why the difference in so big is because the physical body of the women has a weaker nervous system, and is more suseptible to stress.

[CaseyWalsh]

My wife and I spent many hours with Dr. Swank at his Portland, OR office during the early 90%u2019s. The combination of his nutritional guidance and a few treatments of Solumedrol got her up and walking again. Now 15 years (and three kids) later, Avonex and a good diet keeps her very active and stable.

Signed: SwankFan!

[msdietfan]

I was diagnosed 2 years ago and had dozens lesions show up on MRI scans. After following a string diet of no gluten, no legumes and almost no saturated fats, my MRI shows that all lesions have shrunk dramatically in size and no new ones have appeared.

[effallah]

This conclusion was based on registries with NARCOMS, a voluntary MS registry that has people spend half an hour twice a year providing detailed information about their current medical status. Has it occurred to *anyone* that the reason there are 4 times as many women as men in the NARCOMS registry is because 4 times as many women are willing to go through that effort? I have MS, and I'm registered with NARCOMS, and I think it is a wonderful thing that can produce a wealth of useful information, but there is always a risk of selection bias in something like this, and it is appalling that the many news reports about this finding have never even considered that possibility.

[rodbarker60]

If they would pull their head out of the sand. MS is caused by the immune system attacking the myelin sheath around the nerves that happen to be created from the saturated fat that we eat. Dr. Roy Swank after a 38 year study proved that reducing saturated fat in the diet lessons reoccurrences. Recently we've found that hydrogenating oil changes the molecular structure and turns the fat into a molecule that is not found in nature. That would be a good reason for the immune system to attack the myelin, if the myelin was created by a non-natural saturated fat. I was diagnosed nearly 6 years ago and for the first few years I cut all saturated fat out. Now I do not eat any hydrogenated oils at all and supplement my saturated fat intake with pure virgin coconut oil (as well as flax seed and cod liver oils). Stressful situations have caused minor reoccurrences, but within easily maintained parameters. Of course I was on hydrogenated fats for 40 years before my diagnosis, so I can't expect it to go away in just 6 years, but I do believe I'm on the road to recovery. I did the shots for a year and a half, but 10-20% effective rate isn%u2019t worth $1000 a month, when Dr. Roy Swanks diet was a solid 80-90% effective. The Doctors don%u2019t want to find a cure, it%u2019s not profitable. Just like cancer (yes, there is a cure).