Higher Risk of Multiple Sclerosis Found in Obese Girls

New studies suggest that obese children, particularly girls, may be at a greater risk for developing Multiple Sclerosis according to reports this Wednesday from the online journal Neurology. 

Study author Annette Langer-Gould, a neurologist and regional MS expert for Kaiser Permanete, compared the heights and weights of 75 children and adolescents between the ages of two and 18 who had been diagnosed with pediatric MS. More than 50 percent were overweight, the majority girls.

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

The results showed that risks for MS were more than one and a half times higher for overweight girls, almost twice as high for moderately obese girls and up to four times as high for morbidly obese girls.

The chronic autoimmune disorder known as Multiple Sclerosis destroys the protective coating around nerve fibers and slows the signals that travel between the brain and the body. This, in turn, greatly affects the movement of the person suffering from the disorder, and they can often not control their bodily functions.

Concerns surrounding the disease and its debilitating attacks on the central nervous system provide a growing concern for parents and unhealthy routines they may see their children slipping into.

Tanuja Chitnis, a neurologist and pediatric MS specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, said on CNN Health that 10 years ago MS was not recognized as a disease that occurred in children. Today, mounting evidence suggests that it can and is particularly associated with childhood obesity.

And while pediatric MS is only recognized in 1.6 per 100,000 children, red flags to watch out for include constant numbness or tingling from the waist down, and tingling in the chest, abdomen or back that lasts longer than 24 hours.