Multiple sclerosis: the link with earlier infection just got stronger – new study
Republished from... Multiple sclerosis: the link with earlier infection just got stronger – new study October 11, 2021 7.06pm BST Scott Montgomery , UCL For most of the time since the first description of multiple sclerosis (MS) in 1868, the causes of this disabling disease have remained uncertain. Genes have been identified as important, which is why having other family members with MS is associated with a greater risk of developing the disease. A recent study my colleagues and I conducted found that several types of infection during the teenage years are associated with MS after age 20. Our study didn’t investigate whether people who are more likely to have genetic risks for MS were also more likely to have worse infections. This might explain why people with MS also have more infections that need hospital treatment. If this were the explanation, the infection would not be a risk factor triggering MS, it would only identify those more likely t...