Multiple sclerosis occurrence in women three to four times more likely than men

Occurrence of multiple sclerosis in women is three to four times higher compared to men. Multiple sclerosis (MS) in women is usually diagnosed in their twenties or thirties. Because women have different health concerns than men, multiple sclerosis can lead to many complications in women including in regards to their menstrual cycles, contraception, menopause and pregnancy and birth.

Multiple sclerosis symptoms can become worse during a woman’s menstrual cycle where they may feel loss of balance, depressed and especially fatigued. Multiple sclerosis does not affect fertility but if you choose to use an oral contraceptive it’s important to consider how it may or may not interact with other medications specific to multiple sclerosis. During menopause, similar to menstrual cycles, symptoms of multiple sclerosis may appear worse but it’s important to note that hormonal therapies can be used as directed by your doctor.

What began as an experiment gone wrong, when a graduate student used male mice instead of female mice for her experiment she unintentionally gave researchers insight as to why women are at a higher risk to develop multiple sclerosis compared to men.

Lead researcher Melissa Brown said, “When we induce the disease in this strain of female mice, virtually 100 percent of them get very sick. Male mice either get no disease or very little, so MS researchers typically use females in their studies.”

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