What are the risk factors for multiple sclerosis?
Multiple sclerosis affects women almost twice as frequently as men. Caucasians are more than twice as likely as African-Americans or Hispanics to get the disease. multiple sclerosis occurs mainly in the Caucasian race. It is 20-fold lower in the Inuit people of Canada than in other Canadians living in the same region. It is also rare in the Native American tribes of North America, the Australian Aborigine and the Maoris of New Zealand. These few examples point out that the genetic background plays an important role in the development of multiple sclerosis. The disease is relatively rare among those of Asian decent. The disease is more common in temperate climates, like those in the northern United States, Canada and Europe, than in tropical regions. The fact that multiple sclerosis is more prevalent in certain climates leads researchers to speculate that environmental factors play a role in the development of multiple sclerosis. Research in this area has yet to provide conclusive evide
