Unusual and Unproven MS Causes
Environmental and lifestyle factors are known to play a role in triggering multiple sclerosis (MS). But what causes it? No one knows for sure, said William Hornstein, MD, director of the Fountain Valley Multiple Sclerosis Center at Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center in Fountain Valley, Calif. Over the years, some well-respected researchers have proffered some unusual theories, but they've all been disproven. Here are some unproven MS causes, as well as simply incorrect causes of MS that might still be circulating.
In the 1980s and 1990s, a number of researchers reported a connection between canine distemper virus in dogs and MS in people. The theory was given a boost after the number of people with MS increased in places such as Newfoundland, Canada; Key West, Fla.; and Sitka, Alaska, that reported an epidemic of the measles-like canine virus. But the small-animal theory couldn’t be substantiated with evidence-based research. “We know that living with small pets does not cause MS,” said Rosalind Kalb, PhD, vice president of the Professional Resource Center at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in New York City and author of "Multiple Sclerosis: The Questions You Have -- The Answers You Need."
Anyone can develop an allergy. The most common allergens are mold, dust, pollen, pets, and certain foods. However, people with MS are no more likely to have these allergies than anyone else, Dr. Kalb said. Yet some have theorized that allergens can trigger MS in people predisposed to the disease. In January 2011, however, researchers reported in the journal Acta Neurologica Scandinavia that they had examined all clinical and epidemiological studies on people with MS published before July 2009 and found no association between allergies and MS.
Could a blow to the head, neck, or spine trigger MS? “It's common to want to blame your MS on a fall or injury you had a few months before you had your first attack,” said Jack Burks, MD, chief medical officer of the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America (MSAA). But a study in the March 2013 Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences ruled it out. The authors looked at the evidence-based research reported between 1950 and 2011 and found nothing to link traumatic injury with MS.
Ever since the artificial sweetener aspartame burst on the scene in the 1980s, it has been linked to a number of health problems, including MS. “I don’t know how they came up with that,” Dr. Hornstein said. In 2013, the European Food Safety Authority hoped to lay those concerns to rest when it said that its review of evidence-based research found that aspartame and its breakdown products are safe for human consumption. Kalb noted that the International Food Information Council Foundation and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration also have posted information to reassure people that there is no connection between MS and aspartame.
It's interesting to speculate that exposure to heavy metals like mercury, lead, copper, or manganese can cause MS. Heavy metals found in dental fillings and plumbing or local water supplies can damage the central nervous system and cause you to have tremors and weak muscles. But it's not the same type of damage that occurs with MS, Kalb said. “To date, no one has found that exposure to heavy metals causes MS,” she said. An analysis of the literature by the Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis found no links between lead and MS nor mercury and MS.
- Last Updated: 05/29/14