Rise in multiple sclerosis cases

ACCORDING to recent estimates by the Spanish Neurology Society (SEN), close to 2,000 people across the Alicante Province suffer from multiple sclerosis (MS)…a number that has doubled in the past 20 years.
The figures show that the majority of those affected are women between the ages of 20 and 40 and is the second cause of disability in young people.
Across Spain as a whole, there are around 47,000 people affected by the condition; 70 per cent being women.
Speaking about the report, Angel Perez, a neurologist at the Alicante General Hospital said the noticeable trend in the cases involving women “seems to repeat itself throughout the Mediterranean without knowing the causes as to why.”
Some of the reasons for the increase in cases of MS are being put down to lifestyle factors such as changes in diet, smoking and exposure to sunlight.