Teenage Obesity and Multiple Sclerosis

There are some researches that say that female teenagers who happen to be obese have a higher risk of developing multiple sclerosis as compared to those who are not obese. The research had two hundred thirty-eight thousand and three hundred seventy-one female respondents who ranged from twenty-five up to fifty-five years of age. They filled out a questionnaire regarding their corresponding behavior towards their health every couple of years. In over forty years, five hundred ninety-three of these respondents developed multiple sclerosis.

The respondents

The respondents reported their exact weight and height at the age of eighteen. The research scientists then computed for their BMI or their body mass index. They were also told to choose from nine different kinds of silhouettes, from extremely thin up to extremely obese, in order to have a general description of their body size at five, ten and even twenty years old.

The findings

It was through this study that it was concluded that females who had a BMI of thirty or more at eighteen years old had more than two times of a risk for developing a case of multiple sclerosis, as compared to those who had a BMI of nineteen to twenty. Those who had a BMI of twenty-five up to twenty-nine were already considered as overweight while those who were obese had a BMI of thirty kilograms per squared meter.

For those who had a bigger body even though they were just twenty years old represented the purpose of having to use the silhouettes as tools in the study. Aside from that, they were also the ones who represented those who had a lot of risk for having MS. However, for those girls who were very large at five or ten years old is not at all related to the risk of multiple sclerosis development.

Famous professor from the Harvard School of Public Health Kassandra Munger, ScD have stated that the results of the study indicate that weight pays such an important role in the development of MS in adolescence, as compared to that of childhood and adulthood. This means that teenagers have to be taught about preventing the onset of obesity from the very start to reduce the risk of having multiple sclerosis later.

The conclusions

Professor Munger states that there are two most likely statements that could explain why obesity pays a very important role with regards to risk of having multiple sclerosis. According to what she has found out in scientific and medical research, the high levels of Vitamin D inside the body greatly reduce the risk. But obese people have very low levels of Vitamin D.

Another possible explanation is that adipose tissue gives out material that can greatly affect the immune system and some types of cellular activity that are thought to be associated with multiple sclerosis.

The MS diet

Many forms of diet claim that they can reduce obesity, which, in turn, has a big possibility of precipitating the disease. Nutrition is a good way of preventing or avoiding the development of multiple sclerosis.

For instance, many of those who have MS have testified that eating food rich in gluten makes them feel terrible. Although, there are still no scientific findings to back this up, many depend on these testimonies.