Scottish Ancestry A Risk Factor For Multiple Sclerosis

LONDON, ENGLAND -- June 18, 1998 -- Scottish ancestry seems to be a risk factor for the development of multiple sclerosis (MS), finds research in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.

The prevalence of MS increases with latitude north and south of the equator and in the Orkney and Shetland islands is double that reported in other parts of northern Europe. This is thought to be the result of as yet unidentified environmental factors.

The researchers identified all patients with a definite or probable diagnosis of MS, between 1992 and 1995, who were resident in the Lothian and Border Health Board Regions of Scotland. The numbers of new cases during the study period numbered 12.2 per 100,000 population -- the highest ever recorded. The prevalence of MS among the resident population was 203 per 100,000 population and patients having a surname beginning Mac or Mc, indicating Celtic ancestry, were 24 per cent more likely to have the disease than those without a Scottish surname.

Although Orkney and Shetland have always been thought to have the highest rates of multiple sclerosis in the world, the findings suggest that Scotland as a whole has equally high rates. This gives credence to the idea that the Scots have a genetic predisposition to MS and refutes the notion that small island communities are more prone to the disease, the authors write, adding this may also explain the high prevalence of the disease in countries to which large numbers of Scots emigrated.