Five Health Conditions Linked to Subsequent Diagnosis of MS

TUESDAY, Dec. 5, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Five health conditions are associated with subsequent diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, but they overlap with two other autoimmune diseases, according to a study published online Dec. 5 in Neurology.

Octave Guinebretiere, from Sorbonne Université in Paris, and colleagues examined the association between diseases and symptoms diagnosed in primary care and the risk for MS relative to controls and two other autoimmune inflammatory diseases (lupus and Crohn disease) in a case-control study. The study population included 20,174 patients with MS; 54,790 patients without MS; 30,477 patients with Crohn disease; and 7,337 patients with lupus.

The researchers observed significant positive associations for 12 International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10) codes with the risk for MS compared with controls without MS. Five codes remained significantly associated with MS after considering ICD-10 codes suggestive of neurological symptoms as the first diagnosis of MS: depression, sexual dysfunction, constipation, cystitis, and urinary tract infections of unspecified site (odds ratios, 1.22, 1.47, 1.50, 1.21, and 1.38, respectively). In comparisons with lupus and Crohn disease, none of these conditions was selectively associated with MS. During the five years after diagnosis, all five ICD-10 codes identified were still associated with MS.

"Due to the frequency of these symptoms in the general population and the nonspecificity regarding prodrome in other autoimmune diseases, we should not expect that the identification of a prodrome will dramatically change clinical care, at least in the general population," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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