Statistics Regarding MS Disease

Most people experience their first symptoms of multiple sclerosis between the ages of 20 and 40. And although scientists have documented cases of MS disease in young children and elderly adults, symptoms rarely begin before age 15 or after age 60.

 

No one knows exactly how many people have MS disease. It is believed that there are currently about 250,000 to 350,000 people in the United States who have been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. This estimate suggests that approximately 200 new cases of MS are diagnosed each week.

 

Whites are more than twice as likely as other races to develop multiple sclerosis. In general, women are affected at almost twice the rate of men; however, among patients who develop the symptoms of MS disease at a later age, the gender ratio is more balanced.

 

MS disease is five times more prevalent in temperate climates -- such as those found in the northern United States, Canada, and Europe -- than in tropical regions. Furthermore, the age of 15 seems to be significant in terms of risk for developing the disease: Some studies indicate that a person moving from a high-risk (temperate) to a low-risk (tropical) area before the age of 15 tends to adopt the risk (in this case, low) of the new area and vice versa. Other studies suggest that people moving after age 15 maintain the risk of the area where they grew up.