MS epidemiologists and researchers dissected the topic Causes/Triggers of MS. Speakers were David Hafler, Alberto Aschiero, Lisa Barcellos and Larry Steinman. And the top 6 are
Genetics
Tobacco smoking
Vitamin D deficiency
EBV infection
Overweight in early age
High salt intake
I suggested to David we should only be looking for correlation rather than causation (an idea I picked up from a great book Big Data).
He strongly disagreed! He believes genome wide association studies (GAS) have confirmed the cause for MS. I think the search for a definite cause is probably futile but we define cause flexibly. Alberto made the point that even if all the known risk factors were eliminated, MS will still be very prevalent
I am a UK Neurologist keen on general neurology, but with an interest in neuromuscular diseases. I maintain the neurology searchable database, www.neurochecklists.com. I also blog at www.theneurologylounge.com. I share and discuss current issues around clinical neurology. I hope you find my blogs enlightening, practical, and even entertaining.
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