Do Obesity, Birth Control Pills Raise Risk for Multiple Sclerosis?

The role of the “obesity hormone,” leptin, and hormones used for birth control are examined in relation to the development of multiple sclerosis (MS) in two new studies to be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 2014 annual meeting. During the obesity study, the body mass index (BMI) was calculated for 210 people with MS and 210 people of the same age and sex who did not have MS, between the ages of 15-20. Researchers found that people who are obese at age 20 are twice as likely to develop MS later in life compared to non-obese people. The study also found that people with high BMI levels also had higher levels of leptin, which promotes inflammatory responses in the body, and could potentially explain the link between obesity and MS. During the birth control hormone study, researchers identified 305 women who had been diagnosed with MS (during a three-year period) and compared them to 3,050 women who did not have MS. A total of 29 percent of the women with MS, and 24 percent without it, had used hormonal contraceptives for at least three months in the three years before the symptoms began. The results showed that women who had used hormonal contraceptives were 35-percent more likely to develop MS than those who did not use them. Additionally, those who had used contraceptives, but had stopped at least one month before symptoms started, were 50-percent more likely to develop MS. To read more about this study, click here.