Genetic testing for multiple sclerosis
In multiple sclerosis the patient's immune system attacks myelin which functions as an insulation layer of the brain nerves. Myelin enables a fast conduction of impulses in the brain. This disease, affecting 30 to 80 people per 100,000 inhabitants, is a result of environmental and genetic factors. Multiple sclerosis appears predominantly in the white (Caucasian) race. Women are affected twice as often as men. The course of disease involves exacerbations followed by remissions. During an exacerbation, the following neurological symptoms may appear: decreased visual acuity in one eye, diplopia (double vision), sensory deficits in various parts of the body, muscle weakness in certain extremities, clumsiness of the hands and disturbances in urination. In 15% of patients with primary-progressive form of disease, the disease progresses smoothly without acute exacerbations.
Why should you have your DNA analysed for predisposition to multiple sclerosis?
Despite numerous studies, the genetics of multiple sclerosis remains largely a mystery. To date, genome analysis has been able to explain a small increase or decrease in the risk of the development of disease in comparison to the rest of the population. The information provided by the genomic analysis is currently essentially of informative rather than practical nature.
How is multiple sclerosis prevented or treated?
Acute exacerbations are treated with intravenous steroids while the disease progression and recurrence of exacerbations are prevented with biological drugs.
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