Women Multiple Sclerosis More Often Than Man

The number of women affected by MS increased by 50% during the interval between 1980 and 1990, compared to the number of cases in men , which is almost the same every year, indicate the latest research of US Department of Health and Human services. The autoimmunity of MS makes even more necessary the research on the fourth main cause of disability among the women in America .

The MS' autoimmune character is given by the attack of the body against myelin, which seriously damages the nerve and the fibers. Same as the other autoimmune diseases, MS occurs much more often in women than in men (about 75%).In return, the progress of these diseases is more rapid in men.

Because the statistics hadn't have been improved since 1976, and more and more cases have been reported in the last 30 years, Curtis Nooman, PhD and his team of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Register in Atlanta actualized these statistics.

His results prove that the women are 2.6 times more often attacked by MS than the men. The disease mostly affects people around 50 years of age. The race also represents an important factor: white women are significantly more predisposed to MS than those of other races.

It is difficult to explain the reasons that determine MS to make such discrimination. According to Noonan, there are some hypotheses, but not a clear answer related to this question. The new discovery regarding treatment for this disease will provide essential help to the permanently increasing number of affected women. But these very improvements are considered by Nooman to be a reason for the increasing wave of MS cases in women. He attributes that to the so many new methods that can diagnose it, which in the past was not easy to perform. But these opinion may be contradicted by the fact that in men no such situation has occurred.

What makes the women the ?favorite? victims of MS?

To determine what makes women more predisposed to MS forms the object of a large number of researches. For now, even if there are a few starting points that may point to the right direction, only speculations and hypotheses can be made. If the truth was able to break through these speculations, it would be a revolutionary discovery and even the gate to a cure for both women and men.

The first object of the scientists' research is represented by the feminine immune system that is thought to hold the key to the autoimmune disease's mysterious ways.

One of the main hypotheses is based on some scientific facts that involve both MS and pregnancy such as the fact that the symptoms enter remission during pregnancy and get worse after the baby is born. A daring analogy was made between the reaction of the organism to pregnancy and the one it develops in case of autoimmune disease. The hypothesis goes even further and blames the cellular transfer between the mother and the fetus and the other way around to favor the apparition of MS.

In the past, the worsening of MS during pregnancy was associated to hormonal changes. Nowadays, Michael D. Lockshin, director of the Barbara Volcker Center for Women and Rheumatic Diseases places the old hypotheses among the other clues for this mystery. ?Hormones unequivocally involved in the sex differences. They are, however in my belief, part of the process, not the cause?, he says.

Genetic factors are also considered to increase a person's predisposition towards MS. This predisposition affects his or her entire family although the disease developed by each member may not be the same. One family member may have gout, other ? osteoarthritis and other ? MS.

The neurological exam

The very neurological exam will be preceded by a discussion with the doctor about the characteristics of the symptoms: what are these, how often do they occur, what do they look like, etc. the MS is a condition in which any additional piece of information may be extremely important.

The examination will focus on:

* - Mental capacities and emotional factors. * - Reflexes, vision, balance, movement, coordination of the movement and sensations.

The duration of this examination including medical history usually is up to 2 hours

What is the purpose of neurological examination?

A complete physical examination also includes neurological examination but is a less accurate one in case there is no suspicion of nervous system conditions. A much more careful examination is performed for people that have MS symptoms.

The result of the exam may be normal which means that all the functions of the nervous system develop their activity as they should, or abnormal, which indicates weakness, partial or total blindness, problems of balance or coordination and the alteration of sensations.

The symptoms of MS are of many different kinds, depending on where the lesion has occurred. But there are damages that don't develop symptoms, which need other examinations and tests in order to correctly diagnose MS.

For more information visit http://www.multiplesclerosisresearch.com