Race & MS

[gypcwmn]

I have seen in numerous places on the Internet that Gypsies do not get MS.

Well I am a gypsy & living proof that gypsies do indeed get MS.

So either I do not have MS ( which I do ) or medical journals are not worth the paper they bare written on.

[SarahL2491]

and now its allergy season and for some reason its hitting me super hard this year, even on allergy meds........

[Lulu54]

Feel better -  the flu season is coming to an end but that is no consolation to thefolks who have it now.  

[gypcwmn]

Being a Gypsy didn't keep me from having MS. You would think the powers that be would at least take the stinking flu away that I have.

It's kicking my butt!!!

[SarahL2491]

So true Laura, the % is low, it is not impossible, and true that you have to be careful with the internet, papers, etc.  I often smile when I see the commercial that the girl says you can't put anything on the internet that isn't true and this wild guy walks up that she says she met on the internet and he's a french model and well, if you've seen the commercial, you get the idea.

I have native american background and I have MS, I know friends who have gypsy blood and have MS, so either the numbers are truly low or they are just the ones that got reported that they are counting.  

Thanks tho for bringing this to light, it is a reminder that not everything we read is true, not even Wikopedia, which is open to editing and submission.

[Lulu54]

This is something I had not heard of before so I went looking - sure enough, Gypsies, Africans and Asians tend to have a lower rate ofMS in the general population.  Here's some of what I found -

http://www.themcfox.com/multiple-sclerosis/ms-facts/multiple-sclerosis-facts.htm

•Gypsies and Inuit's do get Multiple Sclerosis although the incidence rate is much lower than other populations at approx 19 per 100,000
•Native Indians of North and South America, the Japanese and other Asian peoples have a very low incidence rate of Multiple Sclerosis


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10364723

"For the white population, the prevalence ratio of multiple sclerosis per 100,000 population was 44.9 in the first region and 44.4 in the second. The prevalence of multiple sclerosis in Gypsies was found to be 19.1/100,000 in the first region and 18.4 in the second. It is concluded that multiple sclerosis is less common in Gypsies than in whites living in the same areas."

It appears that a combination of genetics and environment might be a factor ...

Thanks for asking this question  -it was fascinating to read and think about.,  hugs, Laura