Childhood Obesity Facts: Higher Risk of Multiple Sclerosis Linked to Overweight Girls

A new study reveals that obese children may be at a heightened risk of developing Multiple Sclerosis, according to the online journal Neurology.

Neurologist and regional MS expert for Kaiser Permanete Annette Langer-Gould compared the heights and weights of 75 children and adolescents between the ages of two and 18 that have been diagnosed with pediatric MS in the study and found that more than 50 percent were overweight---a majority of the subjects were girls.

"Our findings suggest the childhood obesity epidemic is likely lead to increased morbidity from MS/CIS, particularly in adolescent girls," Langer-Gould and the team of researchers wrote in a statement.

The study's findings showed that the risk of developing MS was more than one and a half times higher for overweight girls. The results also revealed that the risk is almost twice as high for moderately obese girls and up to four times higher for morbidly obese girls.

Multiple Sclerosis is an autoimmune disease that affects the brain and spinal cord. The illness, which could eventually prove to be debilitating, erodes the protective coating of nerves which causes interference in the communication between the brain, spinal cord and various other areas of the body---according to the Mayo Clinic.

Symptoms of the disease vary and may include numbness and weakness in the one or more limbs, tingling or pain in different parts of the body, slurred speech and vision problems.

While there is currently no cure for the disease, there are treatments that aid in symptom management and slowing down the progression of the illness.

Multiple Sclerosis was not a disease that was believed to occur in children 10 years ago, according to neurologist and pediatric MS specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital for Chilren Tanuja Chitnis who commented on the illness on CNN Health as reported by Science World Report. But today there is increasingly more evidence that MS can affect children and that there is a link between the autoimmune disease and childhood obesity.

(SOURCE)