Body size and risk of MS in two cohorts of US women

Obese adolescents have an increased risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS), and this result suggests that prevention of adolescent obesity may contribute to reduced MS risk. Objective: To examine whether obesity during childhood, adolescence, or adulthood is associated with an increased risk of multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods: Women in the Nurses’ Health Study (n = 121,700) and Nurses’ Health Study II (n = 116,671) provided information on weight at age 18 and weight and height at baseline, from which body mass index was derived. Women also selected silhouettes representing their body size at ages 5, 10, and 20. Over the total 40 years of follow-up in both cohorts combined, we confirmed 593 cases of MS. Cox proportional hazards models, adjusting for age, latitude of residence, ethnicity, and cigarette smoking, were used to estimate the rate ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: Obesity at age 18 (body mass index ≥30 kg/m2) was associated with a greater than twofold increased risk of MS (multivariate relative riskpooled = 2.25, 95% CI: 1.50-3.37, p trend <0.001). After adjusting for body size at age 20, having a large body size at ages 5 or 10 was not associated with risk of MS, whereas a large body size at age 20 was associated with a 96% increased risk of MS (95% CI: 1.33-2.89, p trend = 0.009). No significant association was found between adult body mass and MS risk. Conclusions: Obese adolescents have an increased risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS). Although the mechanisms of this association remain uncertain, this result suggests that prevention of adolescent obesity may contribute to reduced MS risk. 25(OH)D = 25-hydroxyvitamin D; BMI = body mass index; CI = confidence interval; MS = multiple sclerosis; NHS = Nurses’ Health Study; NHSII = Nurses’ Health Study II; RR = relative risk.

Metabolically obese phenotype and its dynamic change are

Hypothesis Testing - Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)

Childhood body mass index and multiple sclerosis risk: a long-term cohort study

Adjusting for BMI in analyses of volumetric mammographic density

The initiation and prevention of multiple sclerosis

The risk of smoking on multiple sclerosis: a meta-analysis based on 20,626 cases from case-control and cohort studies [PeerJ]

Investigating shared genetic architecture between obesity and multiple sclerosis

Dietary protein intake in midlife in relation to healthy aging

Obesity and Multiple Sclerosis: A Mendelian Randomization Study

Risk factors in Multiple Sclerosis: Detection and Treatment in Daily Life

Cureus, Comparison of Serum Mitochondrial Open Reading Frame of the 12S rRNA-c (MOTS-c) Levels in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis and Healthy Controls

Underweight Office on Women's Health

High birth weight and risk of multiple sclerosis: A multicentre study in Argentina - ScienceDirect

Medicina, Free Full-Text

Body Type Dieting: Ectomorphs, Endomorphs, & Mesomorphs