I know a few women that were diagnosed with MS. I didn't know it affected men and women this disproportionately. This is very strange.

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It has long been thought that multiple sclerosis isn't an equal-opportunity disease when it comes to afflicting women and men.

In recent decades, far more women have been getting the ailment, with most experts believing that multiple sclerosis in Canada afflicts about twice as many females as males.

But a team of researchers combing over Canadian data on those with multiple sclerosis has made a startling discovery: Women with the disease have inexplicably started to outnumber men by a ratio of more than 3 to 1.

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Where do you start? Here are just a few thoughts even off the top of my head

- Increase in herbal medications/vitamin supplements, maybe there are a few unhealthy ones out there. Male to female usage rates?

- Chemical exposure in the workplace? Women are increasing as a percentage of the workforce and are on industrial plants in increasing numbers.

- Is it in equel numbers everywhere? Is there an environmental or emmissions componant?

I just attended a short seminar on Forensic Occupational Hygiene and Toxicology. It was facinating stuff really.

Scientific testing of virtually all chemicals is conducted with the biological profile of healthy young men in mind.

When I first began researching the effects of pesticides on humans, the only research that had been done was with healthy 25yr old [on average], males! I was utterly horrified because I knew that women, children and the aged have much different metabolisms--not to mention body mass, organ function, immune response etc.

Research with consideration to female vulnerabilities is not a priority, in my opinion.
We still don't have safe foolproof birth control and look at the huge fuss that had to be made to force more research for a breast cancer epidemic.

Most of these limits were put together decades ago when women were pretty much non present in the workforce. I don't think women were excluded do to any overt policy of gender exclusion, it was just the reality of the workforce at the time. When setting exposures for new substances or updating old OEL's, women will definately have to be kept in mind.

MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS - Dr. Gabe Mirkin

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Several researchers have presented evidence that chlamydia pneumoniae may be the cause (1,2). It has been detected in the cerebrospinal fluid of multiple sclerosis patients, but not in that of patients with other neurological diseases. There is also a report of a patient with spinal chlamydia infection and rapidly progressive multiple sclerosis that was cured by minocycline, a very safe antibiotic. Because nerve damage caused by multiple sclerosis can be permanent and minocycline is so safe, doctors should offer this treatment to multiple sclerosis patients, provided that they tell them that this treatment must be considered experimental, because chlamydia has not been proved to cause multiple sclerosis and minocycline has not been tested to see if it can cure that disease.
Researchers at the National Institute of Health reported that multiple sclerosis may be caused by human herpes simplex virus six, and researchers at the University of Wisconsin and Rockefeller University in New York reported the same results. However, no studies have been done to treat multiple sclerosis with drugs that kill human herpes virus-6, Gancyclovir or fornascat, probably because many researchers are afraid of its toxic side effects.
1) Presence of Chlamydia pneumoniae DNA in the cerebral spinal fluid is a common phenomenon in a variety of neurological diseases and not restricted to multiple sclerosis. Annals of Neurology, 2001, Vol 49, Iss 5, pp 585-589. J Gieffers, D Pohl, J Treib, R Dittmann, C Stephan, K Klotz, F Hanefeld, W Solbach, A Haass, M Maass. Address: Gieffers J, Med Univ Lubeck, Inst Med Microbiol & Hyg, Ratzeburger Allee 160, D-23538 Lubeck, GERMANY.
2) An infectious basis for multiple sclerosis - Perspectives on the role of Chlamydia pneumoniae and other agents. H Moses, S Sriram. Biodrugs, 2001, Vol 15, Iss 3, pp 199-206.Address: Sriram S, Vanderbilt Stallworth Rehabil Hosp, Multiple Sclerosis Res Lab & Clin, 2201 Capers Ave, Room 1222, Nashville,TN 37212 USA

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Dr. Gabe Mirkin is a little controversial but he did bring North America and Western Europe the simple cure for most stomach ulcers.

[ 31 October 2006: Message edited by: Sans Tache ]

It's been rising ever since to the point where now three women are diagnosed with MS compared to every man diagnosed.

No one is sure why, but there is a suspicion that it has to do with a deficiency of Vitamin D in women.

Male malice? probably not---there didn't need to be malice---women and their children simply didn't come up on the radar!

The testing of chemicals in the environment [example; pesticides] had little to do with only workplace safety---they were looking at public exposure,----- except that the only public that was deemed important enough to worry about was the male public.

It's no bloody wonder that as far as all autoimmune environmental illness goes, women are the bulk of victims of male corporatist thinking.

Welcome to the DIRECT-MS Website

This website is a great jump-site as it contains a lot of information. There is a lot of concentration on vitamin D.

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the neglect of the research community to consider women in 'human' studies is a typical example of society viewed through a male lens, as if men actually represent all of humanity.

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Alberta Guy posted: decades ago when women were pretty much non present in the workforce.

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