Vitamin D Deficiency Disrupts the Course of MS

The most common nervous system problem affecting young adults, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), and the impact of nutrition are under intensive study. The Neurologist said that especially vitamin D deficiency was found to have a significant effect on the worsening of this disease.
There are still many unknowns about Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a disease characterized by the destruction of brain cells. Because the disease affects the brain and spinal cord, it can cause many problems, from blurred vision to limited mobility. For MS, the cause of which is still unknown, experts say that the combination of environmental and genetic factors may be effective. Yeditepe University Kozyatağı Hospital Neurology Specialist stated that important studies on nutrition have been published in recent years. It can be said that vitamin D deficiency is one of the most important factors in the worsening of this disease.

Hormones Affect the Frequency of Occurrence in Women

Since MS is a chronic disease, it continues throughout life. Reminding that the frequency of MS varies from country to country, the expert stated that there are around 40 thousand MS patients in Turkey. “Women are unluckier than men when it comes to catching the disease. Statistics show that women are twice as likely as men to have it, and about 60 percent of MS patients are women. Hormones play a role in why it is more common in women. MS is a disease that occurs at a young age. But it can rarely start in childhood or over the age of 50.”

Not Every Patient Has The Same Symptoms

MS symptoms differ from person to person and the same complaints do not occur in every patient. Stating that MS is confused with a large number of diseases due to its symptoms, so it can be late to diagnose MS disease, the Neurologist continued as follows: “These findings can be really numerous, from neurological symptoms that can occur in a highly variable range of MS attacks and should last at least 24 hours, from blurred vision to complete vision loss, double vision, and weakness in a part of the body.”

Stress is an Important Trigger

Stating that stress has a very important place among the triggers of the disease, Yeditepe University Hospital Neurology Specialist: "There are many autoimmune diseases that trigger MS disease. This can sometimes complicate the diagnosis in the early stages of the disease.” Our specialist, who stated that MS is not a disease that causes loss of life and that MS patients have a life expectancy close to or a few years less than the average life expectancy of the general population, remarked: “There are always studies on new drug treatments and new molecules on MS. It should be kept in mind that every new drug developed may not be effective for every patient. Unfortunately, there is still no cure for the disease.”

This content was prepared by Yeditepe University Hospitals Medical Editorial Board.

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