Past Pregnancies May Protect Against MS
Study: Multiple Sclerosis Risk May Drop by 50% After First Pregnancy
March 7, 2012 -- Pregnancy appears to play a strong role in whether or not a woman may develop the autoimmune diseasemultiple sclerosis (MS), according to a new study.
The study involved more than 800 women between the ages of 18 and 60. Nearly 300 of them had experienced a first episode of MS symptoms. The other women were healthy and were included for comparison.
Women in the study with at least one child had about half the risk of early MS symptoms compared to women without children. And that risk appeared to drop with each additional child. Women with three children had a 75% lower risk of early MS symptoms compared to women without children. In women with five or more children, risk of early symptoms was slashed by 94%.
Those benefits remained even after researchers accounted for other factors associated with the likelihood of developing MS, like level of education, smoking, skin damage and sun exposure, and certain susceptibility genes.
Researchers say they’re pretty sure that it is something about pregnancy -- rather than being a parent or raising children -- that’s protective, because they saw no difference in men.
The study is published in the journal Neurology.
Slideshow: A Visual Guide to Multiple Sclerosis
Although it is already known that a woman with MS may see a decrease in her symptoms while pregnant, other large studies have not seen an association between pregnancies and MS. But researchers think that may have something to do with when women were included in the studies.
In the current study, women were enrolled after their first episode of MS symptoms.
“It might have been blurred vision or a funny leg, and they are found to have [nerve damage] on an MRI scan,” says researcher Anne-Louise Ponsonby, PhD, a professor at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia.
Ponsonby says about two-thirds of people who experience early symptoms will go on to develop full-blown multiple sclerosis, a disease in which the body slowly attacks its own nerve cells. The damage eats away at the protective coating around nerves, disrupting nerve signals. This disruption causes myriad symptoms, including trouble with movement, balance, coordination, vision, and speech.
Past Pregnancies May Protect Against MS
Study: Multiple Sclerosis Risk May Drop by 50% After First Pregnancy
March 7, 2012 -- Pregnancy appears to play a strong role in whether or not a woman may develop the autoimmune diseasemultiple sclerosis (MS), according to a new study.
The study involved more than 800 women between the ages of 18 and 60. Nearly 300 of them had experienced a first episode of MS symptoms. The other women were healthy and were included for comparison.
Women in the study with at least one child had about half the risk of early MS symptoms compared to women without children. And that risk appeared to drop with each additional child. Women with three children had a 75% lower risk of early MS symptoms compared to women without children. In women with five or more children, risk of early symptoms was slashed by 94%.
Those benefits remained even after researchers accounted for other factors associated with the likelihood of developing MS, like level of education, smoking, skin damage and sun exposure, and certain susceptibility genes.
Researchers say they’re pretty sure that it is something about pregnancy -- rather than being a parent or raising children -- that’s protective, because they saw no difference in men.
The study is published in the journal Neurology.
Slideshow: A Visual Guide to Multiple Sclerosis
Pregnancy and Early MS
Although it is already known that a woman with MS may see a decrease in her symptoms while pregnant, other large studies have not seen an association between pregnancies and MS. But researchers think that may have something to do with when women were included in the studies.
In the current study, women were enrolled after their first episode of MS symptoms.
“It might have been blurred vision or a funny leg, and they are found to have [nerve damage] on an MRI scan,” says researcher Anne-Louise Ponsonby, PhD, a professor at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia.
Ponsonby says about two-thirds of people who experience early symptoms will go on to develop full-blown multiple sclerosis, a disease in which the body slowly attacks its own nerve cells. The damage eats away at the protective coating around nerves, disrupting nerve signals. This disruption causes myriad symptoms, including trouble with movement, balance, coordination, vision, and speech.