Agree that general propensity to illness, or even to getting common illnesses more seriously than others, is not correlated with predisposition to MS.
I had no major or serious illnesses as a child, and not even all of the common ones most kids get.
I did have Scarlatina, which is a mild form of Scarlet Fever, which is quite an unusual one, and I remember feeling pretty ill with that, and being delusional. Oddly, I could somehow tell I was delusional, but not stop it - nonsense that at some level I knew wasn’t real was coming out of my mouth. As soon as I began to get better, one of the first things I asked was: “Have I been saying some strange things?” (Yes! LoL)
Although I do remember this as being pretty yucky, I was at no point considered to be in any danger, and wasn’t admitted to hospital.
I wouldn’t say I was a very healthy child overall, as I did have an almost constant stream of colds, which in turn made it difficult for me to eat, as I not only couldn’t breath with my mouth full, but couldn’t taste what I was eating, so everything seemed bland and horrible, and I couldn’t bring myself to finish it. This led to me being very small and underweight for my age. BUT, as depressing and debilitating as the constant colds were, I never got anything more serious, except the one-off Scarlatina.
I don’t really feel childhood propensity to a lot of colds had anything to do with my subsequent development of MS. And as a family, I don’t think we were ever particularly sickly. I can barely remember my parents or grandparents ever being ill with anything - not 'til late in life, when my father got cancer - twice - the second time terminally - but this was caused by occupational asbestos exposure. I think my grandmother did have some sort of immune condition - probably rheumatology spectrum - because she had been up to the hospital for wax bath treatments to her hands, I think. This was quite young - not in old age. So we conclude her hands were painful - she must have had some kind of rheumatism or arthritis - that’s why this therapy was usually given.
She also had open sores on her legs for years and years - they were always bandaged up. I’m not sure she ever got a diagnosis - or maybe she didn’t even seek one. But obviously, open sores for no reason aren’t normal, and this too could be linked with rheumatology.
She had a sister (my great aunt) with MS and another with Parkinson’s. Important genes implicated in MS AND Parkinson’s are both on the same chromosome, so although they’re two different illnesses, I suspect there was more to this than mere bad luck, and there was a family problem with a certain aspect of the immune system.
I never knew until after my diagnosis that anyone else in the family had ever had MS. If I’d known, I’d have been much more suspicious immediately, even though it’s quite a distant relative.
Tina