Investigation of the possible causes of the increased prevalence of multiple sclerosis in Iran: a review

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease in which the outbreak of this disease has been increased during recent years in the world. Middle East, however, is located in the low risk zone of MS, the outbreaks of this disease has significantly increased over the past few years. Iran is one of the Middle East countries with a middle to high prevalence of multiple sclerosis but so far has not identified the cause of this increasing. This study is an overview of the possible factors that could have caused this increase in Iran. In this study the possible factors affecting the prevalence of MS in Iran was evaluated. the most important factors that seems play a role in the increased prevalence of MS included lifestyle changes, increase urbanization and smoking. Although the mentioned factors can be nominated as the factors of this sudden increase in the prevalence of multiple sclerosis in Iran, these factors cannot be considered definitive factor and further studies are needed to confirm these factors.