I was reading an article on an American study for MS, MS is a lot more prominent in black woman than white, in america anyway. I just don’t really tend to see many black people at events, it may be where I live, but are you out there?
l think it is connected to the vitamin d3 deficiency theory. The darker your skin the more vitamin d3 is essential to your health.
google vitamin d3 deficiency ms-
lncidents of Ricketts brittle bone disease and heart disease in newborns of mums with black/dark skin is on the rise in this country. This is caused by lack of vitamin d3.
Countries where the women cover themselves up in robes and burkhas also have a high rate of MS. Lack of sunlight.
I’m very surprised to hear this. I’d always believed white Europeans had by far the highest incidence - and people of Scottish ancestry in particular - although no race or background is completely immune. But I think it’s incredibly rare in East Asia, for example.
Sorry, not black (mostly Northern European and some Middle Eastern ancestry), so can’t help on that one, but an interesting and surprising finding anyway.
Tina
Tina, l do wonder if MS is actually diagnosed ‘worldwide’. The many different degrees of disability is probably put down to something else. l remember reading - somewhere - where MS was discovered in ‘post mortems’ - but not recognised when the poor person was alive. My great grandmother was wheelchair bound from her early thirties - after having 10 children. She lived until she was well into her 90’s. Nobody seemed to know what ‘her problem’ was. But l think l can now guess. My parents and friends all thought l had had a ‘stroke’ when they first saw me when l became ill. l had lost the use of my left side - and speech slurred. Had to drag my left leg along. 31 years later- of SPMS- still 'dragging. But speech fine.
Curiouser and curiouser.
I am definitely not religious but there are less incidence of MS the nearer you get to the equator the reverse happens in a complaint called Sickle-cell disease. Prominent in equatorial countries while very few if any in Iceland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sickle-cell_disease although this disease is hereditary.
Seems like someone is having a sick joke saying “no matter where you live you’ll get something
This study suggests that MS does not discriminate.
http://multiple-sclerosis-research.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/ms-is-black-and-white-diseasebreaking.html
Spacejacket I read the same thing many years ago - about post mortems, where people were found to have MS damage but nt necssarily to have shown symptoms whilst alive.
I was reminded the other day that Michelle Obama’s father had MS.
I live in very diverse area of London and frequently see black people with walking aids, or using wheelchairs or scooters. So tempted to ask if they have MS but of course it’s not something easily done.
But I do wonder why there doesn’t seem to be black MSers attending groups etc.
Do you think black MSers feel excluded from MS groups?
Are there any black people using this forum?
Pat x
I’ve been cheeky enough to ask twice now. Disabled people, I mean. And both times I was right. Of course, they could be disabled with anything - they might have had a car accident. But sometimes, you just have a hunch, don’t you?
It could have been pretty embarrassing if I’d got it wrong, especially as I don’t look disabled, so they might have been incredulous, and asked: “What the hell’s it to do with you, anyway?” But usually I’ve been chatting to them anyway, about something else, and eventualy felt able to say: “I know this sounds awfully rude, but I DO have a reason for asking: do you have MS, by any chance?”
If it comes back: “Yes! How did you guess?” I can declare my own hand.
It’s actually surprising, once you’re alerted to it, how many people there are going about with visible OR invisible disabilities.
There was horrendous chaos in Sainsbury’s recently, as they were rearranging the whole store, and nobody could find anything - not even the staff. I and a nearby lady (who looked perfectly fine) were getting a bit cheesed off. She turned to me with a sigh, and said: “I can’t be doing with all this traipsing round looking for things; I’ve got Parkinson’s!”
I replied: “Quite, and I’ve got multiple sclerosis!” She looked at me in amazement, and said: “What, YOU have?”
“Yes. Surprising, isn’t it? Quite a few of us going about with problems!”
So then she said: “Well what are you doing with that basket, you silly girl! Why haven’t you got yourself a trolley?” (She was quite right; I’m going to have to give up the basket - they’re heavy empty, are’t they?)
LoL!
T.
I use a gym in East London that specialises in working with the disabled and quite a few black people with MS attend. It just seems representative of a multi-racial part of London.
Must dash, off to the gym.