Analysis of the Correlation Between the Prevalence of Multiple Sclerosis and Food Habits/Lifestyle in Brazilian Capitals
Objective:
Study the correlation between the prevalence of Multiple Sclerosis and eating habits and lifestyles.
Background:
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a heterogeneous disease with clinical and etiological variations, which are reflected in the different mechanisms of nerve tissue damage. Inflammation, demyelination and axonal degeneration are the main pathophysiological mechanisms that cause the clinical manifestations. The most widely accepted pathological concept argues that MS begins with an immune-mediated inflammatory process with the presence of reactive inflammatory cells.
Design/Methods:
This is an ecological study. The study population corresponds to residents of Brazilian capitals from 2008 to 2019. The cases of MS come from the Request, Evaluation and Authorization Reports for Medication from the “Specialized Component of Pharmaceutical Assistance”, included in the database of the Outpatient Information System of the SUS. The data regarding eating habits and lifestyle come from the “National Health Survey” of 2013. All data are available on the DATASUS page. The analysis of the correlation between prevalence and eating habits/lifestyle was performed using a multivariate linear regression model.
Results:
From 2008 to 2019, 8.062 patients with MS were monitored in Brazilian capitals. The multivariate linear regression model allows the prediction of the prevalence of MS with high statistical significance (R2=0.972; p<0.001). The variables included in the model (per capita income, capital latitude, number of neurologists, %meat consumption, %sweets consumption) showed a highly significant correlation with the prevalence of MS in 2019.
Conclusions:
This study presented that high consumption of meat and sweets are significantly correlated with the prevalence of multiple sclerosis. The correlation between the number of neurologists and the prevalence can be explained by the higher frequency of diagnosis of the disease, as in other studies, a correlation was obtained between lower doses of solar ultraviolet radiation (high latitudes) with a higher prevalence of MS.
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