Multiple Sclerosis is known as the most common autoimmune disease involving the central nervous system. This disease affects approximately 250,000 individuals in the United States. Most people diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis are between the ages of twenty and forty, but scientific studies have found there are far more cases of women having MS then men. Although one may be diagnosed with MS at a young age, the mental and physical effects may be life long. The symptoms and severity of MS can not be predicted from one person to another. There are different factors that contribute to the severity of MS. The environment, the person's immune system, and if the patient was exposed to a viral infection are all examples of contributed factors. Some symptoms include paralysis, memory loss, migraine headaches, and ??????.
Research has provided people with some answers when it came to gene linkage and DNA. In a 2-stage genome screen, two principle regions of linkage with Multiple Sclerosis was found: 17q22 and 6p21, the p and q arms of these two chromosomes.
These results were considered compatible with genetic models involving epistatic interactions between these and several other genes.
ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ ÃÂÃ Immunoglobulin genes have been found to have an influence on MS. Two unlinked genetic loci were related to immune response: Gm and HLA. Evidence was also presented when experimenting with T-cell receptors. Another MS susceptibility gene lies near or within the T-cell receptor beta-chain locus. Further evidence was based on the patterns of linkage disequilibrium.
Multiple Sclerosis was found not to be hereditary, but the genes of a person (sibling or child) help determine whether they are at an increased risk for the development of the disease. Although it has been found that MS is not directly inherited, however, it does involve genetic susceptibility. Within the past twenty years,