Did where you grow up give you MS?

Written by

Sun, July 19, 2009

My name is Anthony. My Dad was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis almost 7 years ago. MS has drastically changed my family's life.

I am 15 years old and attend High School in Dearborn, MI. I am conducting research, for my Science Fair Project, on the risks of getting MS by geographic location (where you were born and where you grew up).

Below is a link to a short 5 question survey. Please take the time,less than one minute, to complete the survey for yourself or on behalf anyone you know who has MS.

The survey is completely anonymous. Your answers will be looked at on a group basis, not individually. Your e-mail address or any other identifiable information will not be collected. Again, thank you for helping me with my project by taking the survey. Please forward this email to anyone you know who has MS.

Hopefully one day we can wipe out this disease!

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Anthony Ciccarelli
anthony.multiplesclerosis@gmail.com

Click on link to fill out survey or copy link and paste into the address bar of your browser.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=qiI8MdTvioDo9S4bkOfHLg_3d_3d

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7/19/09 12:11pm

Anthony,

I'm really impressed with this project. It is something I'm really interested in too. I'm not personally going to take the survey since I'm not yet diagnosed and don't want to skew the numbers, but I'm very interested in the results. Let us know what you come up with.

I was born in Montana, where there's a very high percentage of people with MS. I was raised in Northern California. My dad (who has a neurological illness, not MS) was born and raised in Montana and his parents were immigrants from the North Sea coast of Germany (very high prevalence of MS). My mom's family is from the Southern States and includes a lot of Native American ancestry (not such a high prevalence of MS).

Good Luck,

Hollyk

7/20/09 10:54am

Hi Anthony; welcome! If you look up ms and risk factors you will find much more detailed information on this subject. People closer to the equator tend to be at less of a risk than those further out. European (the Enlgish regions) are more likely to develope and have the highest rate.

The research suggests that the lack of sun light which gives us natural vitamin D.

Understand, however, that there are more things that can factor in than just this. You can also have a predisposition for developing an autoimmune disease based on other factors as well.

Web MD has some good information as does the MS Society. I hope that this helps!

Antman

7/20/09 11:19am

Thanks for the info. Your right, I am thinking vitamin d has something to do with it. but then everyone who lives far from the equator would get MS. So yes, there has to be a predispotion that brings it out in certain people. I think it is something in the environment. I have talked to lady that had many friends on the blocks where she grew up and most of them got MS. I have also talked to someone who grew up next to dumps (they could smell it) and both sisters got MS.

It has to be a few things that bring it on.

With the birth month, I am thinking that maybe the mother was exposed to a virus of some kind in the first few months of pregnancy.

adana2

7/20/09 2:22pm

Hey Anthony, Just wanted to throw my history out there. I was born in Northern California. At age 9 I moved to Hawaii, and lived there for 5 years. After that I came back to Nor Cal where I had my first MS symptoms at 28 years old, but was not officially diagnosed. I also lived in So Cal for a few years in my early 20's. I moved to Las Vegas 10 years ago and have been symptom free until recently when an MRI showed a second lesion, and I was diagnosed officially. I am now 48. I don't fit the normal profile (who does?) all my other tests have turned out negative.

I hope my info somehow helps. Best wishes for your Father and family.

Antman

7/20/09 3:05pm

I appreciate the information. It is very helpful.

So if my theory is right you were not at high risk for getting MS. Maybe that is why is was diagnosed so late and it doesn't seem like you have the progressive kind, another thing that goes along with my theory.

Thanks.

Feel better

Antman (AKA Anthony)

Merely Me

7/20/09 10:08pm

Hello Anthony

This is really great that you are doing this. I have heard the theory that folk who grew up in the northern climes may be more susceptible to MS. This was certainly true for me as I grew up in Pittsburgh...also heard that there may be some link to living in more industrial places...so again this was true for me.

Would love to hear more about your dad and how you all cope as a family with your dad's MS. Your father must be very proud of you.

antman

7/21/09 8:51pm

Thanks for supporting my cause, my dad is all right at the moment, it gets hard sometimes but we learn to live to live with it.

Thanks again.

grjenkin

7/22/09 2:39pm

Good work on your project. My partner has MS, and she will be taking your survey.

Here is a data visualization I made using Many-eyes.com showing Multiple Sclerosis by Country and % of Population.

Vicki

7/22/09 7:20pm

Hi Anthony,

I would give you bonus points just for coming up with this project.

As you can see, MSers are often willing to share information to increase awareness and understanding. And you may also realize that no two MS stories are exactly the same.

Like KJ says, my father had a neurological disease, but not MS. Like adana, I moved several times in childhood, going from south to north and back again.

grjenkin's charts might be interesting to you, but they are international. Scotland is generally considered to have the highest incidence, but Ireland and Canada are pretty high. In the US, I have read about several states and areas within states that seem to have a higher than normal MS population.

Do you plan to publish the results of your project? When you do, please let us know. If you have no plans at this time, might you reconsider? Please let us know when and where we can see it. Thank you and good luck in the science fair.

Vicki

7/24/09 3:41pm

Hi again, Anthony,

I posted your request on Disaboom, a disability sight that has many MS members, on my Twitter, Facebook, and my own blog Down the MS Path. Hopefully you will get a few more responses from these sources.

Antman

7/25/09 10:43am

Thank you for posting in those places. I am finding that some people don't like taking surveys and I understand.

I will post my results because people like you are supporting me.

Anthony

Antman

7/25/09 10:49am

Vicki,

I forgot to mention that Michigan (where I live) and Ohio have the highest incidence in the US. We know so many people that have MS. My step-cousin got it at 12years old. She is now 18 but goes through tough times. Two years ago my Dad's first cousin was diagnosed with progressive MS. Yesterday my mom met someone at her work where the girl's mother and mother-in-law has it. That is why I am doing this project.

Anthony

Vicki

7/30/09 4:52am

Hi Anthony,

It is true some people do not like to complete surveys. Some are concerned they may be asked personal information or they'll be added to an email list, and others, that it will take too long. You did say it is short which might help.

I have had experience with people's hesitance with surveys and it can be frustrating.

Vicki

7/30/09 5:14am

Hi again,

Interesting information. I wish you and your family -- and your state, too -- good luck. I am looking forward to your results.

Audra

1/13/10 4:48pm

Anthony

I think its interesting that you mention the high rate of MSers in Michigan and Ohio. I live in Ohio in an industrial town Youngstown to be exact and I can't begin to tell you how many people I know in this small town who suffer from MS. Not to mention that the sun rarely ever shines here as well!

I'm so proud that you are doing this research. My son is 11 and I hope he'll be just as interested as you. MS is really tough on a family. So I wish you and your family well.

Audra

antman

1/15/10 8:00pm

I have heard of many cities like Youngstown where so many people in one area have it.

There was a person who wrote to me that told me how several people on the block where she grew up got Ms. She went on to say that every week in the summer a truck with mosquito spray would come down the street spraying it everywhere. They stayed in their houses for a few minutes then went out to play still seeing the clouds of chemicals.

This disease is obviously related to our environment. I hope they can figure it out soon.

Thanks for writing.

Anonymous

2/11/10 10:08am

Hello, Anthony ~

Thank you for doing this research. I admire your initiative, creativity, and compassion. I too grew up during the '50s in an industrial city in Northern Ohio -- near a steel mill. There were many factories in my hometown at that time. I moved away at age 18, and have since lived in several different states. In one of those locations I was exposed to aerial mosquito dusting for a couple of years. Also, I have heard that Colorado has a high per capita rate of MS. I lived there for 5 years about 35 years ago.

Heidi

8/ 9/09 9:42am

Hi Anthony --

Good for you for taking on this project for your Dad - and for all of us with MS. There are literally hundreds of doctors all over the world attempting the same thing, and not having any real answers yet. I'm sure with your energy and intelligence, the information will be forthcoming soon. When doctors tell us that they "don't have a clue" -- take them at their word!

Big Pharma is so intent on finding more meds for us to try to they can rape our insurance companies (and us) for more money... I'd think researchers' time would be better spent trying to find the CAUSE of this disease, which is what you're trying to do. I applaud your efforts!

I lived in Missouri until I was 34; I moved to Texas for 4 years, and then up north to NH, MA, and PA for 8 years; then back to Missouri where I am today - and where I was diagnosed after having doctors look into my strange symptoms for 12 years. As a kid, big trucks would routinely drive up and down our neighborhood streets in the summertime, spraying big clouds of pesticides to help reduce the miosquito population. In those days we all played in the street after dinner until dark. When the trucks would come down the street, we would all just walk over to the sidewalk and continue playing, and then go back to the street to play some more - often walking through the cloud of poison. No one warned us, or our parents. Our communities must have paid big bucks to the chemical companies though!

If you check out the site called "Accelerated Cure" and poke around the site, you will see that they have a list of over 4,000 toxins that they are researching and trying to link to the incidence of MS... They are the ones trying to find the CAUSE(S)...

I've also been suspect of our food sources as well, and have recently changed to consuming only 100% organic foods, drinking wheatgrass juice daily, and healing myself from the inside-out. I will NEVER eat anything from a box or package again, and I will NEVER consume an animal product ever again.

May peace and success fill your days.

Heidi

sammi

8/18/09 4:00pm

8/15/2009

hi anthony. what a fantastic idea for all those suffering with ms.

i was born on long island, new york in 1951 and moved to south central pennsylvania in 1962. i was 30 when i started with ms symptoms. i never knew anyone with ms until i started having symptoms.

good luck with your project.

Antman

8/23/09 12:26pm

I am starting tot think it might be environmental like you were talking about. I Appreciate you taking the time writing to me, and I will post my results. As of now, over 500 people have taken my survey. Thanks for the support.

Anthony

Zann

8/20/09 5:56pm

Hi Anthony -

I was born in South Africa, of Welsh parentage. I lived in Southern Africa until I was 34, then moved to the USA. I live in New Hampshire. I am now 54 and have recently been told I have MS. My mother and grandmother also had it.

Good luck with your project.

Zann

Antman

8/23/09 12:33pm

Hi,

I read that people in South Africa rarely get MS but I have had several people from South Africa who have MS and their family members have it to. How prevalent is MS in South Africa? Do you know?

When I did my research, they say that MS is not directly inherited (maybe 5% of the time) but again I have talked to over 50 people with MS that have many relatives who have it. We know a family of 8 where 6 of the brothers and sisters have it.

The problem is that doctors are concentrating so hard are medicines to help with the symptoms but not enough studies are addressing the cause.

I think we all have something in us that is triggered by viral or the environment.

Anyhow, Thank for you support.

Feel Better

Anthony

LinDiego

9/ 3/09 5:23pm

I grew up in Washington State. I am 62 years young now and was diagnosed just a year ago. I am taking daily Copaxone injections. Good luck on your science project. I hope I'm not too late! Submitted Sept. 3, 2009. If you have more questions, you can email me at lindagagnier@yahoo.com

BambiLee

9/13/09 9:33pm

I now live in South Dakota after 10 years in North Dakota and 9 years in Minnesota. However, I lived in Sault Ste Marie, MI until I was 12. I was originally in for MS symptoms in 1992 (age 24) but didn't get a diagnosis until this year when I finally let them have another shot at it. Not only do I have MS, but my uncle, diagnosed at age 72 and two of his children, who were my best buds when we were young. One passed away from the disease at 35 and the other was diagnosed at age 40. Also my great aunt and her daughter(deceased). Yeah,I belive it has a lot to do with environment. Especially the environment you are in when your bady is growing and changing. We used to swim daily where the Steel Mill, Paper Mill and all the ships going through the Locks to get to the ocean dumped their waste into Lake Superior. Yeah, hindsight right. We had fun though. If you grew up in Dearborn, you probably have a lot of chemical exposure too.

Good Luck with your project. Any help I can give let me know.

KaptainMyke

6/23/10 2:41pm

I have lived near the WA Parish Electric Generating Station near Damon, TX since I was 3. I developed MS symptons as early as 10 from daily headaches and popping Exedrin. Mother and father never took me to get my head checked.

At 25 after I was married and had a cruise, we came back and my right hand hurt, headaches, knife stabbing pain in my upper right back, spinal cord area.

I was diagnosed at 26, six months later after a series of very obvious MRIs and a spinal tap. 7 lesions on the brain, 2 on my spinal cord. Life has never been the same.

We are moving up north to escape the heat and this coal plant. I am looking at Seattle (not near Ashon Island or Tacoma, or the "Hanford Site" due to obvious soil contamination and water contamination of lead and arsenic) or Colorado.

Read more on this 3rd deadliest coal plant in America right here:

http://kaptainmyke.blogspot.com/2009/09/your-local-neighborhood-coal-plant-is.html

Did where you grow up give you MS?

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