Multiple sclerosis in India: Iceberg or volcano

Abstract Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic neurodegenerative disease involving destruction of the myelin sheath around axons of the brain, spinal cord and optic nerve. There has been a tremendous transformation in its perspective across globe. In recent years, its prevalence has changed dramatica...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of neuroimmunology 2017-06, Vol.307, p.27-30
Main Authors: Zahoor, Insha, Haq, Ehtishamul
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Allergy and Immunology
Challenges
Epidemiological
Global Health
Humans
India
India - epidemiology
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple Sclerosis - epidemiology
Neurology
Prevalence
Scenario
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Abstract Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic neurodegenerative disease involving destruction of the myelin sheath around axons of the brain, spinal cord and optic nerve. There has been a tremendous transformation in its perspective across globe. In recent years, its prevalence has changed dramatically worldwide and India is no exception. Initially, MS was believed to be more common in the Caucasians of Northern Europe and United States; however, it has been found to be present in Indian subcontinent as well. There has been a considerable shift in MS prevalence in India and this has really changed the notion of considering India as a low risk zone for MS. In this review, a concise overview and latest update on changing scenario of MS in India is presented along with some major challenges regarding it persisting across globe even today. In India, remarkable upsurge is needed in carrying out large scale population-based epidemiological studies to get an idea about the true incidence and prevalence rates of MS viz a viz disease burden. Through this review, we have probably tried to identify the actual picture of MS prevalence in India and this could serve as harbinger for upcoming research and at the same time it would definitely aid in working out future strategies for MS management in the country.
ISSN:0165-5728
1872-8421
DOI:10.1016/j.jneuroim.2017.03.015