MS clusters and rivers?

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pawel96
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MS clusters and rivers?

Post by pawel96 »

Hi there,

does anyone know if there is an explanation for possible MS clusters along rivers? They are mentioned for example in this paper:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/1146497/

I also asked around a polish support group and it seems there are indeed people that live very near to rivers (water reservoirs in general). Me being one of them as well - living ca 200 meters to a river. Is there an explanation for that?

P.
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Scott1
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Re: MS clusters and rivers?

Post by Scott1 »

Hi,

As we don't all live in Finland, it would be a long bow to draw to say rivers are involved in all countries. There just isn't any work I've seen that would support or refute that idea. There have been a number of studies that show MS occurs in clusters which supports the concept of an environmental trigger emerging in a population but again you need a lot of work to build a convincing proof. Often viral or bacterial pathogens are elements that are suspected. A river could be home to bugs in the water, bugs in the air, stable populations, destinations for transient populations, etc. I think the article just adds to the observation that MS occurs in clusters. It may be a useful refinement but it's hard to tell.
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ElliotB
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Re: MS clusters and rivers?

Post by ElliotB »

Don't know if you saw this old thread about clusters:

http://www.thisisms.com/forum/general-d ... 16059.html

A couple of 'interesting' cluster have been found, one in Newfoundland, Canada and the other in Key West, Florida.

Further reading about Newfoundland (this article is a bit lengthy and technical):

http://www.medicine.mcgill.ca/mjm/issue ... icles4.htm

Key West (very interesting):

http://www.nytimes.com/1984/11/20/scien ... -west.html


The Key West cluster is to me significant as it refutes the 'lack of sunlight/northern latitude' component that is commonly blamed for MS. The conclusion: "what is going on in Key West is very peculiar."

'They' just don't know...
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lyndacarol
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Re: MS clusters and rivers?

Post by lyndacarol »

Not only in this old General Discussion thread, "Report: 42 disease clusters in 13 US states identified (http://www.thisisms.com/forum/general-d ... 16059.html) but…

Here is an MS cluster in PawPaw, Illinois discussed in the past:

http://www.thisisms.com/forum/post14784 ... Paw#p14784

Apparently, also in Depue, Illinois
http://www.thisisms.com/forum/post19035 ... aw#p190356

http://www.thisisms.com/forum/post22810 ... aw#p228101
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