Smoking as a Risk Factor for Multiple Sclerosis: A Case-Control Study

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common demyelinating disease of central nervous system. Genetic and environmental factors are involved in etiology of disease. One of the environmental risk factors is smoking. This study aimed to assess the relationship between smoking and multiple sclerosis in patients admitted to Alavi hospital in Ardabil province. This case-control study was conducted in the Alavi educational hospital of Ardabil, 2012. Through randomized sampling method 80 MS patients as the case group and 80 healthy people as the control group were involved in the study. A self-administered questionnaire used for data gathering in two parts: demographics and smoking behaviors. Data was analyzed by SPSS v.16, using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results showed that the first symptoms that appeared in patients of multiple sclerosis was diplopia (%57.5) and limps paresthesia (%36.3). Twenty percent of patients versus %5 of control group had history of smoking that was statisticaly significant. Also %62 of patients and %18/8 of control group reported smoking history by their relatives (p=0.0001). This study showed that smoking is one of the risk factors for multiple sclerosis. Likewise, the risk of multiple sclerosis in people who were exposed to cigarette smoke was more than other people. Cigarette cessation and withdrawing from smoking can help the people to decrease the probability of multiple sclerosis.