Your guide to living a healthy life with MS
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    • What is MS? >
      • Types of MS
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    • Stress and MS
    • Smoking and MS
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      • What is a healthy weight for me?
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      • Sleep hygiene tips from the MS Trust
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    • Latest MS-specific physical activity guidelines
    • Benefits of exercise >
      • UK Physical Activity Guidelines
    • Components of physical fitness
    • What sort of 'exercise'?
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    • Exercise and relapse
    • Tips for exercising with MS
  • Diet
    • What is a healthy diet? >
      • 7 tips for a balanced diet
      • What is a portion?
      • 5 tips from the MS Society
      • Diet to reduce risk of further diseases
    • The diet debate in MS >
      • 'Best Bet' diet
      • Overcoming MS (OMS)
      • SWANK
      • Wahls protocol
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What causes MS?

​Short answer is that we don't fully know yet; a lot of research is still being carried out to try to understand this; a number of factors are being considered as possible causes:
​
  • Genetics: you are more likely to suffer from MS if either of your parents or close relatives do; this is common but MS is not passed down by a single identified gene
  • Environment: individuals with less exposure to sunlight in their daily life and live further from the equator are more susceptible suggesting that vitamin D levels could play a role (many individuals with MS show some level of vitamin D deficiency)
  •  Infection: there has been work suggesting that prior Epstein Barr virus (glandular fever) can leave individuals susceptible to developing MS
  • Lifestyle: certain lifestyle be behaviours such as smoking and obesity have been suggested to raise levels of inflammation in the body which may be partly responsible. 

​We can be reassured that this is a very pertinent question which many scientists are working to solve - it can only be a matter of time!

Sources:
MS Society (2017) Causes of MS
​MS Trust (2014) Causes of MS
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  • Home
  • About me
  • Lifestyle and MS
    • What is MS? >
      • Types of MS
      • What causes MS?
      • Symptoms of MS
      • How is MS diagnosed?
      • How is MS treated?
    • Stress and MS
    • Smoking and MS
    • Healthy weight >
      • What is a healthy weight for me?
    • Alcohol and MS
    • Sleep and MS >
      • Sleep hygiene tips from the MS Trust
    • Importance of hydration
  • Keeping active
    • Latest MS-specific physical activity guidelines
    • Benefits of exercise >
      • UK Physical Activity Guidelines
    • Components of physical fitness
    • What sort of 'exercise'?
    • Exercise for managing symptoms
    • Exercise and relapse
    • Tips for exercising with MS
  • Diet
    • What is a healthy diet? >
      • 7 tips for a balanced diet
      • What is a portion?
      • 5 tips from the MS Society
      • Diet to reduce risk of further diseases
    • The diet debate in MS >
      • 'Best Bet' diet
      • Overcoming MS (OMS)
      • SWANK
      • Wahls protocol
    • Diet to manage symptoms
    • Dietary supplements >
      • Vitamin D
      • Vitamin B12
      • Essential Fatty Acids
    • Tips for cooking with MS
  • Blog
    • Blog posts (PDF)
  • Contact
    • Useful resources