This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

African/Americans with MS have more severe symptoms, decline faster than whites - http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm?fuseact ... ageid=1852

Figuring out the reason for this faster progression in African Americans may shed some light as to why some people progress faster then others? Is is genetic? Hmmmmm

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vitamin D connection

Darker skin absorbs less vitamin D per hour. Not a problem if you are living near the equator where there's plenty of available sunlight, but a big problem if you are further away from the equator.

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now that i've read the abstract, there are probably a huge array of variables contributing to older age at onset. just regarding d, when you see no difference in incidence in an american study, without seeing full details i would tend to attribute that to indoors lifestyle, clothing, and sunscreen. with that said what if having worse disease does have something to do with low vit d, and the older onset is from something else.

Certainely lifestyle, access to good healthcare, social background... Same reason as why whites live longer than blacks... no genetics in there...

exactly

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black people in the northern hemisphere cannot absord enough vitamin D because vitamin D is photoactivated and there hyperpigmentation is geared toward more radiation in african climates. just like whites fry in africa, black folks dont fry enough here. WE are at an unusually mild solar minimum, I think that has something to do with the current rise in vitamin D deficiencies. anything that is absorbed through the skin from the sun for that matter.