Multiple sclerosis in South America: month of birth in different latitudes does not seem to interfere with the prevalence or progression of the disease.
Arq Neuropsiquiatr
; 71(9A): 573-9, 2013 Sep.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-24141434
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
To assess whether the month of birth in different latitudes of South America might influence the presence or severity of multiple sclerosis (MS) later in life.METHODS:
Neurologists in four South American countries working at MS units collected data on their patients' month of birth, gender, age, and disease progression.RESULTS:
Analysis of data from 1207 MS patients and 1207 control subjects did not show any significant variation in the month of birth regarding the prevalence of MS in four latitude bands (0-10; 11-20; 21-30; and 31-40 degrees). There was no relationship between the month of birth and the severity of disease in each latitude band.CONCLUSION:
The results from this study show that MS patients born to mothers who were pregnant at different Southern latitudes do not follow the seasonal pattern observed at high Northern latitudes.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Disease Progression
/
Parturition
/
Multiple Sclerosis
Type of study:
Etiology_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
America do sul
Language:
En
Journal:
Arq Neuropsiquiatr
Year:
2013
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Brazil