Multiple Sclerosis and Prostate Cancer: What Do Their Similar Geographies Suggest?

Abstract

Mortality rates from multiple sclerosis show a well-known north-south gradient, both within the United States and internationally. Mortality rates from prostate cancer show a similar gradient and are significantly correlated with multiple sclerosis (MS) mortality and MS prevalence. This finding adds prostate cancer to the set of diseases whose geographic distributions are significantly correlated with MS and whose members include colon cancer, dental caries, and Parkinson''s disease. Review of the literature indicates that these clinically dissimilar diseases may share an aberration in vitamin (hormone) D. Recent evidence demonstrating a multi-faceted role for vitamin D in immunoregulation suggests that a vitamin D aberration may also contribute to the etiology of MS. A vitamin D hypothesis can illuminate several unexplained features of the epidemiology of MS and suggests opportunities for epidemiologic, laboratory, and clinical investigation.

Mortality patterns among workers exposed to styrene in the reinforced plastic boatbuilding industry: An update

“…However, the epidemiological evidence from our study is weak, because the excess in mortality from multiple sclerosis is based on small numbers, is concentrated in the low-exposure subcohort, and declines when state referent rates are used (the distribution of multiple sclerosis is related to geographic latitude [Schwartz, 1992]). Kolstad et al [1995] did find an increased mortality rate ratio for degenerative disorders of the nervous system (multiple sclerosis, Parkinsonism, and motor neuron disease) of 1.8 (CI 0.9-3.8) in a Danish styrene cohort.…”

Vitamin D and Multiple Sclerosis

“…A link between vitamin D and multiple sclerosis (MS) was suggested in 1974 [1] and again in 1992 [2]. However, the first proposed mechanism, weak myelin formation in vitamin D-deficient youth, lacked experimental support and was not entirely consistent with the natural history of MS, so the hypothesis languished.…”

Vitamin D and prostate cancer risk: a review of the epidemiological literature

“…Again, he proposed that lack of vitamin D may be a causative factor in both diseases. 114 Another study conducted to determine the association of sunlight exposure with prostate cancer risk showed that sun exposure and VDR polymorphisms together play an important role in the etiology of prostate cancer. Interview data on lifetime sun exposure and other risk factors were collected for 905 non-Hispanic white men (450 cases and 455 controls).…”