This new study examines the relative risk of a multiple sclerosis diagnosis for direct family members using a Danish MS population of over 8000 people followed for nearly 30 years. In short, they discovered that first-degree relatives had a 7-times greater risk of developing MS versus the general population. Numbers-wise, the risk for first-degree members was 2.5% irrespective of gender, in addition to a general risk of .5% for women and .3% for men.
In a very interesting corollary to the study, they discovered that spouses of MS'ers did *not* experience a higher risk of MS-- which clearly questions the role of environmental factors in developing MS during adulthood.
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