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Environmental Factors and Multiple Sclerosis Severity: A Descriptive Study

Growing evidence suggests that environmental factors play a key role in the onset of multiple sclerosis (MS). This study was conducted to examine whether environmental factors may also be associated with the evolution of the disease. We collected data on smoking habits, sunlight exposure and diet (p...

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Autores principales: Mandia, Daniele, Ferraro, Ottavia E., Nosari, Guido, Montomoli, Cristina, Zardini, Elisabetta, Bergamaschi, Roberto
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4078587/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24950063
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph110606417
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author Mandia, Daniele
Ferraro, Ottavia E.
Nosari, Guido
Montomoli, Cristina
Zardini, Elisabetta
Bergamaschi, Roberto
author_facet Mandia, Daniele
Ferraro, Ottavia E.
Nosari, Guido
Montomoli, Cristina
Zardini, Elisabetta
Bergamaschi, Roberto
author_sort Mandia, Daniele
collection PubMed
description Growing evidence suggests that environmental factors play a key role in the onset of multiple sclerosis (MS). This study was conducted to examine whether environmental factors may also be associated with the evolution of the disease. We collected data on smoking habits, sunlight exposure and diet (particularly consumption of vitamin D-rich foods) from a sample of 131 MS patients. We also measured their serum vitamin D concentration. The clinical impact of MS was quantified using the Multiple Sclerosis Severity Score (MSSS); MS was considered “severe” in patients with MSSS ≥ 6, and “mild” in patients with MSSS ≤ 1. The results showed a strong association between serum vitamin D concentration and both sunlight exposure (26.4 ± 11.9 ng/mL vs. 16.5 ± 12.1 ng/mL, p = 0.0004) and a fish-rich diet (23.5 ± 12.1 ng/mL vs. 16.1 ± 12.4 ng/mL, p = 0.005). Patients reporting frequent sunlight exposure had a lower MSSS (2.6 ± 2.4 h vs. 4.6 ± 2.6 h, p < 0.001). The mild MS patients reported much more frequent sunlight exposure (75% mild MS vs. 25% severe MS p = 0.004, Chi square test). A higher serum vitamin D concentration determined a lower risk of developing severe MS, adjusted for sunlight exposure (OR = 0.92 for one unit increase in vitamin D, 95% CI: 0.86–0.97, p = 0.005). A stronger inverse association emerged between frequent sunlight exposure and the risk of severe MS (OR = 0.26, 95% CI: 0.09–0.71, p = 0.009). Our data show that an appropriate diet and adequate expose to sunlight are associated with less aggressive MS.
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spelling pubmed-40785872014-07-02 Environmental Factors and Multiple Sclerosis Severity: A Descriptive Study Mandia, Daniele Ferraro, Ottavia E. Nosari, Guido Montomoli, Cristina Zardini, Elisabetta Bergamaschi, Roberto Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Growing evidence suggests that environmental factors play a key role in the onset of multiple sclerosis (MS). This study was conducted to examine whether environmental factors may also be associated with the evolution of the disease. We collected data on smoking habits, sunlight exposure and diet (particularly consumption of vitamin D-rich foods) from a sample of 131 MS patients. We also measured their serum vitamin D concentration. The clinical impact of MS was quantified using the Multiple Sclerosis Severity Score (MSSS); MS was considered “severe” in patients with MSSS ≥ 6, and “mild” in patients with MSSS ≤ 1. The results showed a strong association between serum vitamin D concentration and both sunlight exposure (26.4 ± 11.9 ng/mL vs. 16.5 ± 12.1 ng/mL, p = 0.0004) and a fish-rich diet (23.5 ± 12.1 ng/mL vs. 16.1 ± 12.4 ng/mL, p = 0.005). Patients reporting frequent sunlight exposure had a lower MSSS (2.6 ± 2.4 h vs. 4.6 ± 2.6 h, p < 0.001). The mild MS patients reported much more frequent sunlight exposure (75% mild MS vs. 25% severe MS p = 0.004, Chi square test). A higher serum vitamin D concentration determined a lower risk of developing severe MS, adjusted for sunlight exposure (OR = 0.92 for one unit increase in vitamin D, 95% CI: 0.86–0.97, p = 0.005). A stronger inverse association emerged between frequent sunlight exposure and the risk of severe MS (OR = 0.26, 95% CI: 0.09–0.71, p = 0.009). Our data show that an appropriate diet and adequate expose to sunlight are associated with less aggressive MS. MDPI 2014-06-19 2014-06 /pmc/articles/PMC4078587/ /pubmed/24950063 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph110606417 Text en © 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Mandia, Daniele
Ferraro, Ottavia E.
Nosari, Guido
Montomoli, Cristina
Zardini, Elisabetta
Bergamaschi, Roberto
Environmental Factors and Multiple Sclerosis Severity: A Descriptive Study
title Environmental Factors and Multiple Sclerosis Severity: A Descriptive Study
title_full Environmental Factors and Multiple Sclerosis Severity: A Descriptive Study
title_fullStr Environmental Factors and Multiple Sclerosis Severity: A Descriptive Study
title_full_unstemmed Environmental Factors and Multiple Sclerosis Severity: A Descriptive Study
title_short Environmental Factors and Multiple Sclerosis Severity: A Descriptive Study
title_sort environmental factors and multiple sclerosis severity: a descriptive study
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4078587/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24950063
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph110606417
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