Get your own Free Home PageMultiple Sclerosis Survey #1 Results
Note: The data presented here is for information only. It should not be used as medical advice.
This survey was conducted on the internet in 1997. Responses were received from 174 people with MS and 38 people without MS. Results for specific issues are listed below. Results for all questions are given in the Tables. Not all web browsers display tables in the same manner. The tables referenced here will appear correctly when viewed with Netscape or Internet Explorer ver 4.
Summary of results
1) Dental fillings.
Silver dental fillings are actually made from an alloy of silver and mercury. Mercury is very toxic and the symptoms of mercury poisoning are similar to the symptoms of MS. This has led to a belief, by some, that fillings cause MS. Furthermore there are many people who claim to have recovered from MS after having their fillings removed. The results of this survey, however, do not support either of those claims.
If silver/mercury fillings contribute to the development of MS then one should expect to find that among people with MS there is a smaller proportion who don't have fillings than there is among the general public. Such a difference does appear for females; 18% for females with MS versus 30% for females without MS. However, for males the difference was reversed, 19% for males with MS versus 15% for males without MS. Overall the difference was small, 18% for people with MS versus 23% for people without MS. SEE TABLE The probability of the result occurring by luck is 28%,which does not make a compelling case for the theory that fillings cause MS.
The survey also asks; If for any reason you had all of your fillings removed did your symptoms become better, worse or no different?. Three said better, three said worse and fifteen said no difference. Among the three who said better, their disability was actually the same as or worse than average compared to others who had the disease for about the same number of years. SEE TABLE So the survey offers little support for the idea that removing fillings would improve your condition.
2) Saturated fat.
Dr Swank first proposed the theory that people who eat less than 15 grams of saturated fat per day, have a reduced risk of developing MS. Based on the responses to the survey questions on diet, the amount of saturated fat in each respondent's diet was calculated. If Dr. Swanks theory is true then there should be a smaller percentage of people who ate a low fat diet among the MS group than among the non-MS group. In fact, there is a significant difference between the two groups in this respect. Among the non-MS group 47% ate 15 grams or less while among the group with MS only 26 % ate such a diet. SEE TABLE The probability of this result occurring by chance is less than 1%. . It must be noted that this does not prove Swank's theory since a correlation does not prove cause and effect. It is also possible that there are other explanations. However, we must conclude that the survey results are consistent with Dr. Swank's theory.
In question 14 we asked if anyone thought they were recovering from MS and if so what they attributed the recovery to. Most of the people who answered yes listed a number of things they thought were helping. SEE TABLEThe Swank diet was mentioned 5 times and a low fat diet was also mentioned 5 times (not by the same 5 people). Taking oil, which is recommended by Swank, was mentioned 7 times. All of these people listed their disability as none or mild. Most were doing well compared to others who had the same type of MS for about the same number of years,SEE TABLE although none of these people had CPMS. Unfortunately the survey did not look at the flip side of the coin; if anyone had tried the Swank diet without success. That question will have to wait for a future survey.
On the negative side we note that a number of respondents were on very low fat diets before their MS symptoms began. Overall however, the survey results are consistent with the hypothesis that a low fat diet reduces the risk of getting MS and that such a diet may be beneficial for people who already have MS. Unfortunately it seems that it does not work for everyone.
3) Mercury and lead.
In questions 13a and b the respondents were asked if they had been exposed to mercury or lead. Their answers revealed no significant difference between people with MS and people without MS.SEE TABLE Of course the survey is limited by the respondents knowledge of such exposure. (i.e If you were exposed to lead from your plumbing or paint but you did not know it, the survey could not detect that.)
4) High voltage electric wires and nuclear power plants.
In questions 13f and h we asked if respondents had lived near high voltage electric wires or nuclear power plants. The results did not show any significant difference for people with MS compared to people without MS.SEE TABLE
5) Smoking.
Respondents were asked how may cigarettes they smoke per week. For people with MS the question pertains to the time before MS began. For people without MS the question refers to their lifelong habits. 26.1% of the people without MS were smokers. (This figure compares well with 1994 data from the CDC which indicates that 25.5% of americans over age 18 were smokers.) For people with MS 40% were smokers.SEE TABLE Using a two tailed test the probability of that difference occurring by chance is about 10%. That is interesting but not extremely compelling. Unfortunately the validity of this result is further clouded by the fact that there are nearly as many former smokers as there are current smokers in the US. Since the survey refers to the time before MS began we don't know if the respondents are current smokers or former smokers. That makes the results too doubtful to be of use. However, the question deserves further consideration in a future survey.
It was also noted that the percentage of smokers was higher among the groups with serious disability than among the those with little or no disability. Although this observation is clouded by the issues noted above, it may still provide one more reason to quit smoking.SEE TABLE
6) Latitude
It has long been observed that the incidence of MS is low near the equator and increases further north and south of the equator. Testing that observation was complicated by the fact that people tend to move frequently, especially Americans. If someone lived in a northern area for 15 years and then moved to a southern location for the rest of his life should he be considered a northerner or a southerner? To simplify the problem, only people who lived in one state from birth until MS began were considered. People living in foreign countries were also excluded from this analysis since there were not enough of them to develop a statistical picture. (My apologies to those people who were excluded from this section. I know you took the time to fill in the information on location, and I thank you for doing it, but there just wasn't a meaningful way to utilize all of the data. )
There were 62 people who lived in one state from birth until their symptoms started. This was not enough to do a state by state comparison, so the states were grouped into regions as follows:
Northern states- defined here as those states whose land area and population centers lie mainly above 40 degrees north latitude.
Middle states- those states which are approximately bisected by 40 degrees north latitude.
Southern states- those states whose land area and population centers lie mainly south of 40 degrees north latitude.
The number of responses from each region was computed on a per capita basis. There were approximately 3 times as many responses per capita, from northern and middle states as there were from southern states. SEE TABLE This would certainly seem to confirm MS's preference for northern regions.
It is noteworhty that there were 10 respondents with MS who had lived continuously in Canada (population 28 million). By contrast there were no responses from people who had lived in Mexico, even though Mexico has a population of nearly 90 million. Similarly, there were no responses from South America. This would also tend to bear out the latitude theory, although race, access to the internet, and language could also be responsible .
Responses were also received from people who lived in England, Italy, Germany, Norway, Austria, Denmark, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Of those living in the northern hemisphere, nearly all lived north of 40 degrees latitude. Of those who lived in Australia, all lived at approximately 35 degrees south latitude.
Why does MS prefer regions away from the equator? Is it related to temperature? To sunlight? Is it a function of the earth's magnetic field? Perhaps its all of those things or perhaps none of them. It should be possible to determine all of the factors that differentiate the regions of high MS prevalence from those of low prevalence and then test every factor, one by one. That will be work for future surveys.
7)Digestive problems.
In question 11 respondents were asked if they had experienced frequent problems with stomach pain, excessive gas, diarrhea, or constipation, before their symptoms began. For each of those symptoms there was a significantly higher percentage who answered yes among the group with MS than among the group without MS. This difference was noted for both sexes in every category except excessive gas. In that case, for males, there was only a slightly higher occurrence among those with MS. Overall, among people with MS, 53% answered yes to at least one of those questions , while for people without MS only 23% did.SEE TABLE The probability of this occurring by chance is less than 0.01% (i.e. less than 1 in ten thousand). That is a very strong case. It seems safe to say people with MS do experience more digestive problems than people who don't have MS. Furthermore, this begins before their MS symptoms start.
Respondents were asked to describe the frequency and severity of the above problems. Some of them had mild problems but many had severe problems.SEE TABLE
What reason could there be that people with MS have these problems so much more frequently than people people without MS? Do the digestive problems cause MS? Are they simply early symptoms of MS? Or, are both conditions symptoms of a deeper problem? We don't have the answers to those questions, but perhaps we can find them with future surveys.
8)Avonex/Betaseron
It was not the intent of this survey to study drugs developed by the pharmaceutical industry since the manufacturers subject those products to extensive testing. This survey is aimed at remedies which the medical community is not testing. However, for the record, there were three respondents who said they were taking Avonex or Betaseron. All three said they had no disability.
Note: after publishing this I was contacted by a woman who took the survey, but for some reason is not in my database. She informed me that she is using Betaseron and that her condition is "restricted to severe." She asked that I update this text for the record.
9) Relatives with MS
About 85% of respondents with MS said they did not have a relative with MS. About 5% said they had a cousin with MS and about 3% had a sister with MS. Very few had a parent or a child with MS. This should be good news for those of us who are concerned about passing the disease on to our children. SEE TABLE
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