Multiple Sclerosis Research: Sex Hormones and MS

To investigate if women with multiple sclerosis (MS) experience changes in MS symptoms related to pregnancy, the postpartum period, menopause or use of oral contraception (OC) or postmenopausal hormone therapy (HT).

METHODS: Women with diagnosed MS were recruited from registers of all MS patients known in two counties of Sweden, respectively. Ninety-four women were recruited in Link?ping and 52 in Sundsvall. The women answered a questionnaire with categorized alternatives regarding their MS symptoms related to menstruation, pregnancy, delivery, menopause and use of OC or HT.

RESULTS: Forty percent of the women reported worsening of MS symptoms related to menopause, whereas 56% reported no change of symptoms and 5% reported decreased symptoms. More than a fourth of the women reported decreased symptoms during pregnancy, 64% reported unchanged symptoms and 10% reported increased symptoms. Every third woman reported increased symptoms after delivery, 59% reported no change and 5% reported decreased symptoms. Few women reported changes in MS symptoms in relation to use of HT or OC.

CONCLUSION: The presented data indicate a relationship between high-oestrogen states and ameliorated symptoms whereas low-oestrogen states seem to relate to a worsening of the disease. A majority of women, however, reported no changes in MS symptoms in relation to the different oestrogen states.

A questionnaire enquiring about changes in severity of symptoms of multiple sclerosis with the menstrual cycle, menopause and use of hormone replacement therapy was answered retrospectively by 11 premenopausal and 19 postmenopausal women. Eighty-two per cent of menopausal women reported an increase in severity premenstrually. Of the postmenopausal women 54% reported a worsening of symptoms with the menopause, and 75% of those who had tried hormone replacement therapy reported an improvement. The results of this pilot study indicate the need for further research to clarify the effects of the menopause and hormone replacement therapy upon multiple sclerosis.

Although clinical observations provide weak evidence for an influence of sex steroids on the progress of MS, experimental studies have shown that oestrogens and progestins exert multiple effects in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). The influence of sex can depend on the genetics of the animals. There is clear benefit of HRT on bone density and we know that good strong bones is invaluable to MSers

Source: http://multiple-sclerosis-research.blogspot.com/2012/10/sex-hormones-and-ms.html

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