The epidemiology of multiple sclerosis in Scotland: inferences from hospital admissions.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurological disorder with a highly characteristic disease distribution. Prevalence and incidence in general increase with increasing distance from the equator. Similarly the female to male sex ratio increases with increasing latitude. Multiple possible risk factors have...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2011-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3029296?pdf=render |
| _version_ | 1819095857864114176 |
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| author | Adam E Handel Lynne Jarvis Ryan McLaughlin Anastasia Fries George C Ebers Sreeram V Ramagopalan |
| author_facet | Adam E Handel Lynne Jarvis Ryan McLaughlin Anastasia Fries George C Ebers Sreeram V Ramagopalan |
| author_sort | Adam E Handel |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurological disorder with a highly characteristic disease distribution. Prevalence and incidence in general increase with increasing distance from the equator. Similarly the female to male sex ratio increases with increasing latitude. Multiple possible risk factors have been hypothesised for this epidemiological trend, including human leukocyte antigen allele frequencies, ultraviolet exposure and subsequent vitamin D levels, smoking and Epstein-Barr virus. In this study we undertook a study of medical records across Scotland on an NHS health board level of resolution to examine the epidemiology of MS in this region.We calculated the number and rate of patient-linked hospital admissions throughout Scotland between 1997 and 2009 from the Scottish Morbidity Records. We used weighted-regression to examine correlations between these measures of MS, and latitude and smoking prevalence. We found a highly significant relationship between MS patient-linked admissions and latitude (r weighted by standard error (r(sw)) = 0.75, p = 0.002). There was no significant relationship between smoking prevalence and MS patient-linked admissions.There is a definite latitudinal effect on MS risk across Scotland, arising primarily from an excess of female MS patients at more Northerly latitudes. Whether this is a true gradient or whether a threshold effect may apply at particular latitude will be revealed only by further research. A number of genetic and environmental factors may underlie this effect. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T23:49:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-57e31e410e5846ecba7f36d5d275dc37 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T23:49:58Z |
| publishDate | 2011-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-57e31e410e5846ecba7f36d5d275dc372022-12-21T18:45:58ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032011-01-0161e1460610.1371/journal.pone.0014606The epidemiology of multiple sclerosis in Scotland: inferences from hospital admissions.Adam E HandelLynne JarvisRyan McLaughlinAnastasia FriesGeorge C EbersSreeram V RamagopalanMultiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurological disorder with a highly characteristic disease distribution. Prevalence and incidence in general increase with increasing distance from the equator. Similarly the female to male sex ratio increases with increasing latitude. Multiple possible risk factors have been hypothesised for this epidemiological trend, including human leukocyte antigen allele frequencies, ultraviolet exposure and subsequent vitamin D levels, smoking and Epstein-Barr virus. In this study we undertook a study of medical records across Scotland on an NHS health board level of resolution to examine the epidemiology of MS in this region.We calculated the number and rate of patient-linked hospital admissions throughout Scotland between 1997 and 2009 from the Scottish Morbidity Records. We used weighted-regression to examine correlations between these measures of MS, and latitude and smoking prevalence. We found a highly significant relationship between MS patient-linked admissions and latitude (r weighted by standard error (r(sw)) = 0.75, p = 0.002). There was no significant relationship between smoking prevalence and MS patient-linked admissions.There is a definite latitudinal effect on MS risk across Scotland, arising primarily from an excess of female MS patients at more Northerly latitudes. Whether this is a true gradient or whether a threshold effect may apply at particular latitude will be revealed only by further research. A number of genetic and environmental factors may underlie this effect.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3029296?pdf=render |
| spellingShingle | Adam E Handel Lynne Jarvis Ryan McLaughlin Anastasia Fries George C Ebers Sreeram V Ramagopalan The epidemiology of multiple sclerosis in Scotland: inferences from hospital admissions. PLoS ONE |
| title | The epidemiology of multiple sclerosis in Scotland: inferences from hospital admissions. |
| title_full | The epidemiology of multiple sclerosis in Scotland: inferences from hospital admissions. |
| title_fullStr | The epidemiology of multiple sclerosis in Scotland: inferences from hospital admissions. |
| title_full_unstemmed | The epidemiology of multiple sclerosis in Scotland: inferences from hospital admissions. |
| title_short | The epidemiology of multiple sclerosis in Scotland: inferences from hospital admissions. |
| title_sort | epidemiology of multiple sclerosis in scotland inferences from hospital admissions |
| url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3029296?pdf=render |
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