Revealed: why women more likely to suffer MS

RESEARCHERS have discovered why multiple sclerosis is more common in women than men.

They found women with MS are more likely to have a gene associated with the condition than men. Women are also more likely to pass this gene on to their daughters, according to the MS Society-funded study at the University of Oxford.

MS is the most common neurological condition affecting young adults in the UK, causing serious problems with movement and balance. Scotland has one of the highest rates of MS in the world, although the reasons for this remain unclear.

The new research, led by Professor George Ebers and published in the journal Neurology, analysed the genes of more than 7,000 people from some 1,000 families affected by MS to try to establish why some people seem to inherit MS, while others do not. The study found women appeared more likely to inherit genes linked with MS from a female relative.

In the 1950s, the numbers of men and women living with MS in Scotland were roughly equal. But today, the condition may affect as many as three times more women than men.

The research also offers an explanation as to why, in high prevalence areas, some 20 per cent of MS cases have at least one affected relative.

The scientists said the link to genes was only half the story, as these increases had taken place over too short a timescale to be explained as simply genetic.

Instead, the study suggests, the rise of MS in women is triggered by an interaction between genes and environment that specifically affects women.

Dr Jayne Spink, director of policy and research at the MS Society, said: "The exact cause of MS is still unknown, but this study helps solve a vital part of the puzzle."