Why are so many women getting MS?

By DANIEL MARTIN

Last updated at 00:15 30 April 2007


Many more women than men are developing multiple sclerosis, a study has found.

Women have always been more susceptible to the damaging neurological condition, which affects 85,000 victims in the UK. But the proportion of women affected has shot up, according to U.S. research.

In 1940, two out of three with the condition were women. In 2000, it was four out of five.

Study author Dr Gary Cutter, from the University of Alabama, said: "We don't yet know why more women are developing MS than men and more research is needed."

Investigators will have to explore multiple changes that have occurred for women over the last few decades, Dr Cutter told the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, in Boston.

These include the Pill, earlier menstruation, higher obesity rates, changes in smoking habits, and later age of first births.

"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."

Dr Cutter's team looked at a database of 30,336 MS victims.

MS is the most common disabling neurological condition affecting young adults in the UK. It is an autoimmune condition - meaning the immune system mistakes the body's own tissue for an infectious foreign body, and attacks it.

Chris Bentley of the MS Society said: "The idea that lifestyle changes in women over the decades, such as the use of oral contraceptives, changes in smoking rates and later menstruation, may play a part in MS is interesting, but further research is needed."

Most watched News videos