Washington, Sept 1 : Unlike cigarettes, Swedish snuff doesn’t increase a person’s risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS), finds a new study.

“While tobacco cigarettes increased a person”s risk of developing MS, our research found that using Swedish snuff was not associated with an elevated risk for MS,” said study author Dr Anna Hedstrom, of the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm.

“These results could mean that nicotine is not the substance responsible for the increased risk of MS among smokers,” she added.

During the study, the researchers examined 902 people diagnosed with MS and 1,855 people without MS in Sweden between the ages of 16 and 70.

It showed that in women who smoked, the risk for developing MS was nearly one and a half times higher than in women who did not smoke.

In men, the risk was nearly two times higher in those who smoked compared to those who did not smoke.

This was the case even in people who only smoked moderately.

However, those who used Swedish snuff for more than 15 years were 70 percent less likely to develop MS than those who had never used any type of tobacco.

There was no significant effect of snuff-taking for less than 15 years, a period during which other adverse consequences of taking snuff, including head-and-neck cancer, would become evident.

“Taking snuff, however, may have other harmful effects, and our findings should not be interpreted to mean that Swedish snuff is recommended to prevent disease,” said Hedstrom.

“More research is needed to better understand the mechanisms behind the findings.

“Theories are that smoking may raise the risk of MS by increasing the frequency and persistence of respiratory infections, or by causing autoimmune reactions in genetically susceptible people,” she added.

The study appears in journal Neurologyr, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. (ANI)

View full article here: http://www.topnews.in/swedish-snuff-doesn-t-increase-multiple-sclerosis-risk-2208920

Research published in the Aug. 18, 2009, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, showed that “ever-smokers” had more brain lesions and greater loss of brain volume, as well as higher scores on the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), than MS patients who had no history of smoking.

The EDSS score is an average number derived from measures of various functions of the central nervous system. It is based on a scale from 0 to 10, with 10 representing greatest disability. Nonsmokers recorded an average EDSS score of 2.5, compared to 3.0 for ever-smokers.

“Cigarette smoking is one of the most compelling environmental risk factors linked to the development and worsening of MS,” said Robert Zivadinov, M.D., Ph.D., UB professor of neurology, director of the Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center (BNAC) where the research was conducted and first author on the study.

“The biological basis of the potential link between smoking and MS has not yet been fully elucidated,” Zivadinov said. “In addition to nicotine, cigarette smoke contains hundreds of potentially toxic components, including tar, carbon monoxide and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

“In MS patients, smoking was associated with higher increased lesion burden and greater brain atrophy. Our results indicate that a wide range of quantitative brain MRI markers are affected by smoking in MS patients.”

The study involved 368 consecutive patients who were seen at the Baird Multiple Sclerosis Center of the Jacobs Neurological Institute (JNI), UB’s Department of Neurology, UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

Within the study cohort, 128 had a history of smoking: 96 were active smokers who had smoked more than 10 cigarettes-per-day in the three months prior to the study start and 32 were former smokers who had smoked cumulatively for at least six months sometime in the past. The remaining 240 participants were lifelong nonsmokers.

Nearly 80 percent in both groups were female, and nearly 75 percent were diagnosed with progressive MS, characterized by a steadily increasing disability.

All participants were evaluated by a clinician, were rated by disability using the EDSS scale and underwent a variety of high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans conducted by MRI analysts who were blinded to the patient’s clinical status and characteristics.

Results showed that smokers with MS had a greater breakdown of the blood-brain barrier, had nearly 17 percent more brain lesions — patches of inflammation in the sheath surrounding the nerve fibers that impair their function — than nonsmokers with MS, and also had less brain volume. Smoking also was associated with increased physical disability, as measured by the EDSS score.

Bianca Weinstock-Guttman, M.D., director of the Baird MS Center, UB associate professor of neurology and a principal co-author on the study, said: “The findings underscore the detrimental effect of smoking, providing a link between smoking and a more severe brain injury in MS patients.

“Increased antismoking education in schools and more targeted smoking cessation programs for patients with MS should be encouraged further and supported.”

Murali Ramanathan, Ph.D., associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences in the UB School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, is senior author on the study. Additional authors, all from UB, are Komal Hashmi, M.D., Nadir Abdelrahman, M.D., Milena Stosic, M.D., Michael G. Dwyer, Sara Hussein and Jackie Durfee.

View entire post here: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090817190636.htm

Unfortunately, cigarette smoking seems to be part of the multiple sclerosis (MS) picture for some patients.  Studies have shown that cigarette smoking increases the chances of getting MS and seems to make MS worse.  If you smoke, it is important to quit.

The amount by which cigarette smoking increases multiple sclerosis is not small.  One study showed that smoking increases by the chances of getting multiple sclerosis by 27 percent.  A related issue is found in another study showing that it is more difficult for doctors to diagnose MS in smokers with MS so a delayed diagnosis leads to unnecesary delays in treatment.  Most frightening, even children who are exposed to second hand smoke are more likely to develop MS.

For those who already have MS, smoking is also scary.  The studies show that smoking increases the amount of disability in MS and seems to encourage the onset of progressive multiple sclerosis in which there are no relapses.

The increases in disability for smokers with MS vary with the amount smoked.  Those who smoke less than one pack a day become more disabled than nonsmokers and heavy smokers of two or more packs per day become the most disabled of all.  An earlier study showed that, apart from the general increase in disability among smokers with MS, smoking causes a temporary decrease in motor functions after a cigarette is smoked.

If you do smoke, this is the time to promise yourself you will free from this expensive and unhealthy habit.  You owe it to yourself and your family, especially the children in your family, to protect yourself from harmful effects of smoking.

Please let me know if you find my blog helpful.  Please add a comment.  What did you like?  What would you like added?  Thanks!  Together we can change the way the world views MS.

Please remember to consult your doctors about how to stay as healthy as possible. Nothing here should be interpreted as medical advice. Instead, please use the information you find here in your discussions with your doctor.

Copyright 2009 Rebecca Hoover

View full post here: http://intelligentguidetoms.wordpress.com/2009/06/19/cigarette-smoking-and-ms-scary-stuff/

February 27, 2009 — Smoking cigarettes at a young age increases the risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS), researchers warn. The study findings were released February 20 by the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) in advance of its presentation in April at the upcoming AAN 61st Annual Meeting, in Seattle, Washington.

Investigators found that early smokers — those who started experimenting with cigarettes before the age of 17 years — were more than twice as likely to develop MS compared with nonsmokers.

“Early smoking is an independent risk factor for MS,” lead author Joseph Finkelstein, MD, from Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore, Maryland, told Medscape Neurology & Neurosurgery.

More Than 2 Times the Risk

The study is part of an initiative by the Multiple Sclerosis Center of Excellence, which was established by the Veterans Health Administration.

Investigators looked at more than 30,000 subjects from the 2002 National Health Interview Survey. Of these, there were 87 MS patients.

Researchers divided patients into 3 groups — nonsmokers, early smokers, and late smokers. As part of the case-control design of the study, investigators randomly selected 5 controls for each of the 87 MS patients (n = 435).

During an interview, Dr. Finkelstein pointed out that in several epidemiological studies, environmental factors have been found to play a prominent role in the development of MS. While many studies have suggested that smoking is a major risk factor, such work has not addressed the risk of early vs late exposure to cigarettes.

In the population-based analysis, 19.3% of people were early smokers. This number was even higher for MS patients, at 32.6%. Based on the Wald χ2 statistic, this difference was statistically significant (P < .04).

While controlling for sex, race, age, marital status, education, income level, and region, the researchers found early smokers were much more likely to develop MS.

Risk of Developing MS Compared With Nonsmokers

Late smokers did not show an elevated MS risk as compared with nonsmokers. “Our study does not condone smoking in any way,” Dr. Finkelstein emphasized during an interview.

“We are currently conducting the same analysis in other areas such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cardiovascular disease, and cancer, and we have very good reason to believe that smoking is an important risk factor.”

The researchers have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

American Academy of Neurology 61st Annual Meeting. Released February 20, 2009.