Is multiple sclerosis a genetic disease?

“It’s a question that gets asked very quickly during counseling, because it’s a disease that often affects young women. Usually the patient is more concerned about what they can pass on than they are about MS. It affects them, because it’s a disease that sometimes happens in the middle of a life project.” This explains Jerome de Seze, professor of neurology at the University Hospital of Strasbourg and a specialist in autoimmune diseases and neuro-ophthalmology. “But no, MS is not a genetic disease in the genetic sense of the word, meaning we don’t know the MS gene, we just have genes associated with inflammation and disease development. What we do know is that the risk of transmission of MS in childhood is less than 5%,” The specialist adds.

serious connotation

“Multiple sclerosis is a disease with serious implications. It is true that when this diagnosis is announced, patients either do not know it, or they immediately see the disability, the stick and the wheelchair.” More details by Jerome de Seze. “However, it is a disease whose prognosis has completely changed in 20 years thanks to the advent of new, effective, and increasingly superior treatments, which improve the comfort of life.” I continued.

Multiple sclerosis is a disease of young adults, usually diagnosed between the ages of 25 and 35. 120,000 people in France now suffer from this disease and 3,000,000 new cases are diagnosed each year.

symptoms

The appearance of neurological disorders affecting various functions (movement, sensitivity, vision, balance, coordination of movements, etc.) and the development of primary relapsing attacks largely indicates multiple sclerosis. Doctors talk about the spread of infection “It spreads over time and into the central nervous system.” But the symptoms can be more deceptive, especially in the case of mood problems (depression or manic disorder), which can lead to bipolar disorder, while the removed plaques affect the limbic system, which is located in the deep brain.