Twins without MS in fact DO HAVE MS !!!

[frodo]

A typical remark about the genetic component in MS is that for cases in twins, only for 20% of them the MS appears in both siblings. Now, it seems that this is just an effect of using the sick McDonald "definition". (lesions must be disseminated in space and time in some specific way)

A new research shows that the second twin is usually not diagnosed with MS just because he doesn't show the same kind of lesions, but they seem to have the same underlying condition that their brothers.

This are important news about the genetic component in MS.

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News from the ECTRIMS Congress: MS Discordant Twins Often Have Silent Lesions on Imaging

http://journals.lww.com/neurotodayonlin ... e=Fulltext

ARTICLE IN BRIEF

Researchers found that twins who had no definite signs of multiple sclerosis — while their twin did — were often found to have silent lesions on imaging.

LONDON—Researchers investigating why some identical twins manifested symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS) while the other twin did not show signs of the disease found that many of the asymptomatic discordant twins actually had underlying damage that could be assessed in imaging studies, researchers reported here in September at the Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis.

The researchers rounded up 53 sets of homozygous twins from across Germany, and reported on results from imaging and family history studies of 44 sets.

In her platform presentation here, Lisa Ann Gerdes, MD, resident physician at the Institute for Neuroimmunology at the Klinikum der Universitat Munchen, said that she found 29 of the discordant twins had magnetic resonance imaging scans that looked suspiciously like MS.

In fact, she said, four years after undergoing the study, two of the twins developed definitive MS.

“We know that the highest risk for multiple sclerosis is in a monozygotic twin of a twin who has multiple sclerosis with up to 20 percent of both twins being effected; in dizygotic twins, the concurrence rate is about 5 percent,” said Dr. Gerdes. “The statistics highlight the importance of genetic factors that drive the disease, but they are not deterministic,” she said. “So far there are no subclinical data on the concordance rates in these multiple sclerosis twins.”

[ElliotB]

This is an amazing discovery that in theory should assist researchers. Thanks for posting...