WHAT IS THE PREVALENCE OF MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS?

Recent studies of apparently healthy people using MRI have shown that the areas of damage in the brain typical of MS are very common and affects over 40% of the population. Those who develop MS, that is who actively have the symptoms, are the "tip of the iceberg" and it is usually damage to the spinal cord that results in obvious disability. So any figures quoted about MS are at best rough estimates, but there are probably at least 100,000 people with the obvious symptoms of MS in Great Britain. In the population at large, the prevalence is probably about 1 in 700.


The prevalence among the children of those with MS is only very slightly higher and it is not clear whether the reason for this is hereditary or simply because people in families are generally raised in the same place. Research is continuing on possible genetic factors in MS.

The incidence of MS is said to be higher in the North of Britain than in the South. Also it is certainly true that MS occurs more frequently in temperate climates (and in the developed countries) than in the hot climates (or third world countries). However, life expectancy is very much lower in third-world countries and the provision of medical and specialist neurology much less developed.

Many authorities agree that people with MS have a fairly normal life expectancy and only about one in five may eventually need to use a wheelchair. Above all, people with MS can still expect to have a good experience of life, of love, marriage, children and a career.