- Researchers are reporting that in the years leading up to a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, individuals were more likely to have depression, constipation, urinary tract infections, and sexual problems.
- The researchers indicated that knowing these symptoms might help doctors decide whether to screen someone who is at high risk for multiple sclerosis but doesn’t have symptoms.
- They said that recognizing the early symptoms could potentially lead to earlier treatment and better symptom management.
Depression, constipation, urinary tract infections, bladder infections, and sexual problems can all predate a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) by several years.
That’s according to a study published today in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
In it, researchers report that people with MS are more likely to have depression, constipation, and urinary tract infections (UTIs) up to five years before their diagnosis.
Sexual problems and bladder infections (cystitis) were also more common in people with MS.
In addition, the scientists found that these conditions were also more likely to occur in other autoimmune diseases, such as lupus and Crohn’s disease.
In their study, the researchers looked at the medical records of 20,174 people who were newly diagnosed with MS and compared them to a control group of 54,790 people who did not have the disease, matched according to age and gender.
The researchers also compared the people with MS to 30,477 individuals with Crohn’s disease and 7,337 people with lupus.
Using the medical records database, they looked for 113 diseases and symptoms occurring five years before and after the diagnosis, or before the matching date for those not diagnosed with another autoimmune disease.
They reported that people with MS were:
- 22% more likely to have depression
- 50% more likely to have constipation
- 38% more likely to have UTIs
- 47% more likely to have sexual problems
- 21% more likely to have bladder problems (cystitis)
They…
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