- Double Mastectomy May Offer No Survival Benefit to Women With Breast Cancer
- Toxic Lead Found in Cinnamon Product, FDA Says
- Certain Abbott Blood Sugar Monitors May Give Incorrect Readings
- Athletes Can Expect High Ozone, Pollen Counts for Paris Olympics
- Fake Oxycontin Pills Widespread and Potentially Deadly: Report
- Shingles Vaccine Could Lower Dementia Risk
- Your Odds for Accidental Gun Death Rise Greatly in Certain States
- Kids From Poorer Families Less Likely to Survive Cancer
- Tough Workouts Won’t Trigger Cardiac Arrest in Folks With Long QT Syndrome
- At-Home Colon Cancer Test Can Save Lives
Risk for MS Among Patients’ Relatives Not As High As Thought
![](https://ladylively.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/genetics7-300x336.jpg)
A new study suggests that relatives of patients with multiple sclerosis aren’t as likely to develop the disease as previously believed, even though the illness is thought to be caused mainly by genetics.
The researchers, at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute, tracked almost everyone within the country who had been diagnosed with the disease since 1968 — about 28,000 people. The researchers looked at whether their relatives developed the disease and then analyzed a group of people without multiple sclerosis (MS) and their relatives.
Siblings of people with MS were seven times more likely to develop MS than the general population; the risk for children of MS patients was five times higher. Grandchildren and nieces and nephews, however, faced no higher risk.
“The population registers in Sweden are reliable tools for finding relatives to MS patients and their possible MS diagnosis, instead of relying on the patients’ memories,” study first author Helga Westerlind, a doctoral student in the institute’s department of clinical neuroscience, said in an institute news release.
“Our study is a good example of how one can quickly achieve more reliable results than the previous studies that were based on patient groups collected in hospitals throughout decades,” Westerlind said.
The researchers have also studied twins and found that genetics do indeed play a major role in MS.
The study appears in the Jan. 17 issue of the journal Brain.
More information
For more about multiple sclerosis, try the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Source: HealthDay
Copyright © 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.