Little son - how do I minimise his risk?

Wonderfulworld · Family Elder Joined: Aug 28, 2006 Posts: 296

Hi
my little son is 2 months old. To my shock I recently read that the tranmission rate to children of a parent with MS is 1 in 10 - whereas I had always read up until recently that it was 1 in 100. 1 in 10 is so high, I am a bit worried about his future. But I suppose he has a 9 in 10 chance of NOT having it.....

What things should I do to help him minimise his risk of MS developing? I know that these things can only be hypothetically beneficial based on epidemiology and the like.

I was thinking of:
keeping his vitamin d levels up through diet and sunshine

not being too "anti-bacterial" around him after 3 months

testing him early for coeliac disease (I have that) and keeping to a gluten free diet if needed

What do the rest of you think?

cheerleader · Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 10:27 am Post subject:

Hi WW...
Just saw your quote on the red head thread re: eight years ago trying to cure MS. I'm coming down off my google high of one year since husband's diagnosis.

My son is his Dad's "mini-me." Same physique and coloring...but there is one big difference.

BEST thing you can do is breast feed. I truly believe there is a correlation. My husband was bottle fed and has a ton of allergies. My son was breast fed and has a great immune system and no allergies.

Breast milk has all the fats and nutrients needed. If you never breast fed your baby or thought you were done, no worries. I would look into a mothers' milk bank in your area. There are moms who help out by donating their extra milk.

Also, be careful with immunizations. I would suggest spreading them out over time. In the states, docs like to load them up on the 18 month visit. There's no hurry, spread them out over you child's life.
Also, try not to worry. (Ha!) try not to worry too much. Your child has less of a risk because he is a boy, and because you are looking out for him from the start.

best,
AC
_________________
Husband diagnosed RRMS March 2007
pursuing endothelial healing
Copaxone, Swank, supplements, laughter

HUTTO · Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 11:13 am Post subject:

well i think you mentioned everything that you can do..you can go to the best bet diet website and pull up preventing ms..it focus's on our kids..i think the whole thing is hit and ms...both my parents have ms and neither of my sisters do, but me. its just one of those things..you never know. i wouldn't worry about passing it down. i don't know how accurate that 1-10 is..i thought i had a 1-50 chance because of both parents..do the diet, do the supplements with vid d..thats my advice. and the shots..my 4month old just had hers done. if they have that stuff thermosal then i will spread those out...that stuff has mercury of 49.6 % of its compound. just insane..i will spread them all out. keep doing what your doing..

if i was to mash up one of my vit d of 700iu and give that to my son would that be fine? like mixing it into his juice or something.

Punchy · Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 11:44 am Post subject:

WW, I must have missed your birth announcement - congratulations!

It sounds to me like you are doing all of the things you can do with the little information we have. Can i ask where you got the 1 in 10 stat? Here in Canada I have read it's 1 in 40. At least he has the advantage of being a boy.

Another thing to consider is that if he does one day, God forbid, get a diagnosis, you can try to set a good example for him on how to deal with it, on loving life, family and moving forward.

It sounds like he's already a very lucky boy. Smile

Wonderfulworld · Family Elder Joined: Aug 28, 2006 Posts: 296

Thanks for all the replies so far.

dreddk · Getting to Know You... Joined: Jan 21, 2007 Posts: 21

I give my one year old daugher this vitamin d3 supplement
http://www.meadjohnson.ca/en/products/vitamins_1.html

My 3-year old give the life extension 1,000iu as its a very small pill and easy for her to swallow

A recent review indicated that a group of nurses who took 400iu supplement had much lower risk of developing MS. My gut feel would be if you kept them on a supplement their risk would be comparitive to the general population.