Diet and multiple sclerosis
Citation Manager Formats
Make Comment
See Comments
![Loading Loading](https://n.neurology.org/sites/all/modules/contrib/panels_ajax_tab/images/loading.gif)
This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is believed to be an inflammatory disease with autoimmune mechanisms, and much of the epidemiologic data point to an important, possibly predominant, role of environmental factors in its etiology.1,2 In this regard, diet is an important subject of etiologic research. Frequent contact with numerous microbial, and potentially toxic, agents and their presentation to the gut-associated lymphoid tissue,3 provide an important biological rationale. Similar to MS incidence, diet shows striking geographic and ethnic variability, and may be preserved or changed after migration to another sociocultural environment. This is in accord with the divergent results of recent migrant studies in MS.4,5 Furthermore, the fact that the risk of MS is correlated in both ecologic6-8 and individual9-11 terms with some gastrointestinal disorders argues in favor of a role for nutrition in the etiology of MS.
Considering the likely high frequency of subclinical disease in MS,12 epidemiologic research is unable to clearly differentiate between "risk factors" and "triggers"; the latter lead, by definition, to a transitory accentuation of the inflammatory process. Since triggers can act to increase the incidence of the disease, they may also be classified as risk factors in epidemiologic terms. Furthermore, variables that affect prognosis may also provide clues to causal factors that act before clinical manifestations, and for this reason it may also be useful to take into account the result of trials on lifestyle variables such as diet when studying the etiology of MS.
This is a review of available epidemiologic data on the possible role of diet in the etiology of MS, with particular emphasis on methodologic issues.
Ecologic studies. In light of a comparatively low intra-population variability13 in diet, ecologic investigations are particularly valuable in the study of nutritional factors and MS. This is in contrast to …
AAN Members
We have changed the login procedure to improve access between AAN.com and the Neurology journals. If you are experiencing issues, please log out of AAN.com and clear history and cookies. (For instructions by browser, please click the instruction pages below). After clearing, choose preferred Journal and select login for AAN Members. You will be redirected to a login page where you can log in with your AAN ID number and password. When you are returned to the Journal, your name should appear at the top right of the page.
AAN Non-Member Subscribers
Purchase access
For assistance, please contact:
AAN Members (800) 879-1960 or (612) 928-6000 (International)
Non-AAN Member subscribers (800) 638-3030 or (301) 223-2300 option 3, select 1 (international)
Sign Up
Information on how to subscribe to Neurology and Neurology: Clinical Practice can be found here
Purchase
Individual access to articles is available through the Add to Cart option on the article page. Access for 1 day (from the computer you are currently using) is US$ 39.00. Pay-per-view content is for the use of the payee only, and content may not be further distributed by print or electronic means. The payee may view, download, and/or print the article for his/her personal, scholarly, research, and educational use. Distributing copies (electronic or otherwise) of the article is not allowed.
Letters: Rapid online correspondence
REQUIREMENTS
You must ensure that your Disclosures have been updated within the previous six months. Please go to our Submission Site to add or update your Disclosure information.
Your co-authors must send a completed Publishing Agreement Form to Neurology Staff (not necessary for the lead/corresponding author as the form below will suffice) before you upload your comment.
If you are responding to a comment that was written about an article you originally authored:
You (and co-authors) do not need to fill out forms or check disclosures as author forms are still valid
and apply to letter.
Submission specifications:
- Submissions must be < 200 words with < 5 references. Reference 1 must be the article on which you are commenting.
- Submissions should not have more than 5 authors. (Exception: original author replies can include all original authors of the article)
- Submit only on articles published within 6 months of issue date.
- Do not be redundant. Read any comments already posted on the article prior to submission.
- Submitted comments are subject to editing and editor review prior to posting.
You May Also be Interested in
Dr. Dennis Bourdette and Dr. Lindsey Wooliscroft
► Watch
Related Articles
- No related articles found.
Alert Me
Recommended articles
-
Part I: Methodology
Ecologic studies of multiple sclerosisKlaus Lauer et al.Neurology, August 01, 1997 -
Article
No association between dietary sodium intake and the risk of multiple sclerosisMarianna Cortese, Changzheng Yuan, Tanuja Chitnis et al.Neurology, August 25, 2017 -
Article
Epidemiology of Multiple Sclerosis in US VeteransVII. Risk Factors for MSJohn F. Kurtzke, William F. Page et al.Neurology, January 01, 1997 -
Article
MS risk in immigrants in the McDonald eraA population-based study in Ontario, CanadaDalia L. Rotstein, Ruth Ann Marrie, Colleen Maxwell et al.Neurology, November 05, 2019