Head injuries do not lead to multiple sclerosis

Last Updated: 2006-04-12 14:46:39 -0400 (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Head injuries do not seem to trigger the development of the degenerative neurological disease multiple sclerosis, according to a report by researchers from the University of Oxford in the UK.

The hypothesis that trauma to the head might influence the development of multiple sclerosis in genetically predisposed individuals has been debated for several years. However, the link has not been studied conclusively, note investigators in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry.

To explore this question, Dr. Michael Goldacre and associates studied data for a cohort of over 110,000 people admitted to a hospital with head injury and analyzed the patterns of their trauma. They then compared the occurrence of multiple sclerosis in this group to a reference cohort of over 500,000 individuals.

Goldacre and colleagues failed to find any evidence linking head injury to the development of multiple sclerosis.

The rate ratio of multiple sclerosis after head injury, compared with the reference cohort, was 1.1. This risk did not increase, or decrease, with time, the authors note.

Moreover, the severity of the injury -- defined by the length of stay at the hospital -- did not seem to influence outcomes either.

SOURCE: Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry March 2006.