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Multiple sclerosis (MS), also known as disseminated sclerosis or encephalomyelitis disseminata, is an inflammatory disease in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This damage disrupts the ability of parts of the nervous system to communicate, resulting in a wide range of signs and symptoms,[1][2] including physical, mental,[2] and sometimes psychiatric problems.[3] MS takes several forms, with new symptoms either occurring in isolated attacks (relapsing forms) or building up over time (progressive forms).[4] Between attacks, symptoms may disappear completely; however, permanent neurological problems often occur, especially as the disease advances.
It's a disease that strikes down adults at their prime -- and it's found Ground Zero in Canada.
Multiple sclerosis afflicts Canadians at a rate that far outpaces anyplace else in the world, a new survey has found.
"It's really shocking … It is almost like a Canadian disease," said Karen Lee, of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada.
Nearly 100,000 Canadians have the disease, a rate that's 28% higher than the country with the second-highest mark, Denmark, and nine times higher than the global average, according to the survey by the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation.
Epidemiology and PrevalenceOnsetGeographic DistributionPopulation StudiesGenetic Factors Onset There are about 300,000 patients suffering from Multiple Sclerosis in the North America today. The age of onset peaks between 20 and 30 years. Almost 70% of patients manifest symptoms between ages 21 and 40. Disease rarely occurs prior to 10 or after 60 years of age. However, patients as young as 3 and as old as 67 years of age have been described. Like other immuno- mediated diseases, females are affected more frequently than males (1.4 to 3.1 times as many women than men affected.)
Geographic Distribution
There is a very specific geographic distribution of this disease around the world. A significantly higher incidence of the disease is found in the northernmost latitudes of the northern and the southern hemispheres compared to southernmost latitudes. This observation is based on the incidence of the disease in Scandinavia, northern United States and Canada, as well as Australia and New Zealand. The data from migration studies shows that if the exposure to a higher risk environment occurs during adolescence (before 15 years of age,) the migrant assumes the higher risk of the environment. This concept is nicely illustrated in studies of native-born South African white population with low incidence of the disease versus high incidence of MS among white immigrants from Great Britain, where the disease is much more prevalent (Saud A. Sadiq,James R. Miller et al.) "Epidemics" of MS have been reported and these provide further evidence of importance of environmental factors in MS. The most notable "epidemic" was described on the Faroe Islands after they were occupied by British troops in W.W.II. Similar increases in incidence of the disease were seen on Shetland and Orkney Islands, in Iceland, and in Sardinia. A specific "point agent" for these "epidemics" never was identified.
originally posted by: CranialSponge
Canada is a stewing pot, but we do have a high percentage of Northern European citizens (Irish, Scottish, etc)... so maybe there's something in that ? But then again, if that's the case you would think countries like Scotland, for example, would be higher per capita than Canada...
Maybe because its so dang cold in canada im in florida and i dont hear much about ms here?
LSHS • a year ago
What Ms Lee, probably one of the most irritating people working for the MS Society, doesn't say is that "multiple sclerosis" simply means "multiple lesions", and that a number of other conditions cause multiple lesions in the brain and cause neurological symptoms that mimic "MS" symptoms. She doesn't say that there is no definitive test for MS. She doesn't admit that there is no "treatment" for what the MS specialists call MS. She won't admit that the drugs the MS Society and the MS specialists push don't work or actually kill.
originally posted by: intrepid
originally posted by: CranialSponge
Canada is a stewing pot, but we do have a high percentage of Northern European citizens (Irish, Scottish, etc)... so maybe there's something in that ? But then again, if that's the case you would think countries like Scotland, for example, would be higher per capita than Canada...
Exactly. And from my cursory search the Inuit seem almost immune. That still doesn't explain why we with mostly European bloodlines get this. It's minimal in those countries.
There are three basic types of melanin: eumelanin, pheomelanin, and neuromelanin. The most common type of melanin is eumelanin. There are two types of eumelanin- brown eumelanin and black eumelanin. Pheomelanin is a cysteine-containing red polymer of benzothiazine units largely responsible for red hair, among other pigmentation. Neuromelanin is found in the brain, though its function remains obscure.
Other than the fact that they also tend to have a much higher meat diet (seal, whale blubber, etc) than the rest of us.
... triggers the immune system into overdrive, causing excessive inflammation and erosion of the myelin and leaving scarring.