New Multiple sclerosis content for you
Ardra Shephard is a blogger and script consultant based in Toronto, Canada. She shares her experience of living with MS and the importance of putting the individual at the heart of the treatment and research experience.
Genetic counsellor Kira Dineen explains how nature and nurture work together and not in isolation.
Elise Osmond is an Australian primary school teacher diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis - in this new blog series she shares the story of her diagnosis and how she is now conquering her condition.
Elise Osmond is an Australian primary school teacher diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis - in this new blog series she shares the story of her diagnosis and how she is now conquering her condition.
Genetic counsellor Kira Dineen explains how we can all be unique when we share 99.9% of our DNA.
How can our genes reveal personalised treatment options? Genetic counsellor Kira Dineen explains.
As part of a new blog series, genetic counsellor Kira Dineen explains the role of genetics in immune conditions.
Artist and patient advocate May Ling talks about how she uses art to help others understand Multiple Sclerosis.
Certified genetic counsellor Kira Dineen explains genetic risk and the role it plays in healthcare decisions.
Environmentalist and patient advocate Rebecca Kane shares her experience of living with MS.
MS Prevalence
MS is a rare condition, affecting about one in every 11110 people globally.
More people tend to have MS in colder regions - further from the equator, though there are also other complicating factors. [1]
Genetics
Genetically, MS is complex, as over 200 genes have been associated with MS risk.
Heritability means how much of the differences in a trait (like height) within a group of people can be attributed to differences in genetics.
Something like eye colour has very high heritability (>80%), which means it’s almost completely determined by genetics. Something like a person’s first language has 0% heritability - as that’s entirely to do with their environment.
What it doesn’t mean is how likely something is to be inherited from a parent , as even if a condition had 100% heritability, and so was completely down to genetics, it might be associated with a dominant or recessive gene, or more likely associated with many many genes, which interact in complex ways and which are still being explored & discovered!
Main Symptoms
Symptoms vary between people, and can change over time. [3]
Impacts
Many autoimmune conditions impact more women than men - in the case of MS about 2 to 3 times more women than men have the condition. [4]
More than 85% of people with MS experience periods of relapse (worsening symptoms) and remission (improving symptoms) after their diagnosis.
These are the best resources we've found so far on managing and learning about MS . Please let us know if you have other and we'll add them to the list!
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