- Study found one in every 170 women in the Orkney Islands suffers from multiple sclerosis
- It is the highest rate in the world and has been linked with their Norse ancestry
- Scientists say Vitamin D deficiency could also be to blame
By CLAIRE BATES
10 December 2012
People living on a group of Scottish islands could have the highest rate of multiple sclerosis in the world thanks to the Vikings, researchers claim.
Scientists at Edinburgh University found that one in every 170 women in the Orkney Islands suffers from the disease.
Dr Jim Wilson, who led the study, said their Norse ancestry may be at least partly to blame.
The Vikings used the islands as a base for their raids and they remained under the rule of Norwegian “jarls” until 1231.
Dr Wilson, a genetics expert at Edinburgh University, said: ‘Something people have thought for a long time is that the prevalence of MS could be linked to the island’s Scandinavian history, and this could be an explanation for it, though not the entire story.
‘Studies that I have done, as well as others, show that half of the general population of the isles originates from Scandinavia, through the Vikings.
‘There are places in Scandanavia with a higher prevalence [of MS], but there is also a real Scottish element to this disease.
‘We studied in Canada as well and area’s where there is a large Scottish heritage seems to have more people that suffer from the disease, compared to a place like Quebec where the descendents are mainly French.
‘I think there is a combination of genetic and environmental factors- a lack of vitamin D from the limited sun exposure is also considered to be linked.’
Dr Wilson said that the 20,000 population on the Orkneys could be more exposed due to an inherited genetic weakness yet to be discovered by scientists.
He said: ‘With this clustering, some people would try to say it is due to the soil or something in the water. But, at least in the past, people married in their own community very often.
‘At some level with their genetic background people in a parish are part of the same extended family. Even if we have not been able to find a genetic factor [to explain the dense levels of MS] it does not mean that it is not out there.’
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