MS and the Orkney Islands--the BIG picture
December 10, 2012 at 6:57pm
New research shows that the world's highest MS rates are found on Scotland's Orkney Islands. Researchers are tying this to the environmental factor of sunshine, latitude and vitamin D levels and potential genetic markers, but there's much more to this story. Because the Orkney Islands population have some serious health issues. It's not just MS.
Here's more on the MS rates on the Orkney Islands which was announced today:
The Orkney islands in Scotland have the highest incidence of multiple sclerosis in the world, a new study has shown, lending weight to the theory that the absence of strong sunlight may be a factor.
The north of Scotland has been known for some time to have a high prevalence of MS, but the first study of its kind in 40 years has found that the rates in the Orkney Islands, Aberdeen and Shetland are not only very high but have increased since the 1980s.
The prevalence of the condition in Orkney is far higher than has been recorded anywhere else. One woman in 170 in the islands suffers from the degenerative disease – it is more common in women than in men. Shetland has a rate of 295 per 100,000 and the city of Aberdeen has 229 cases per 100,000. The highest reported rates worldwide were previously 350 per 100,000 in Alberta and Nova Scotia in Canada.
Dr Jim Wilson, of the University of Edinburgh's centre for population health sciences and one of the authors of the study published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, said the answer was at least partly genetic. "Our study shows that Orkney has the highest prevalence rate of MS recorded worldwide.
The figures will also be welcomed by those who believe the high prevalence of MS in northern climes is linked to an absence of strong sunlight, which is needed to make vitamin D in the body. Some scientists and campaigners have lobbied public health authorities for mass dosing of vitamin D in Scotland.
Dr Wilson said this was an ongoing topic of research. "We have 2,300 people in Orkney who are having their vitamin D measured. We will certainly get the answer," he said. "It is probably important but it is not the only factor."
What this press announcement fails to mention is that this MS study is just one part of several major studies being undertaken on the Orkney Islands. And Dr. Jim WIlson has been involved in these other studies, as well. The results have shown high rates in cardiovascular disease, diabetes, stroke and other cardiovascular issues for Orkney inhabitants. Here is some information from 2004 and the ORCADES study.
