Hossein Ali Ebrahimi
Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Iran
Title: Multiple sclerosis and mines
Biography
Biography: Hossein Ali Ebrahimi
Abstract
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common inflammatory-demyelinating disease of the central nervous system.
Our knowledge about its pathogenesis is still incomplete and etiology remains unknown, early observations showed that the prevalence of MS is variable among geographic areas. One of the most geographic differences among areas of the world is mines existence. Also, available articles provide evidences of the effect of metals in MS pathogenesis. For example, iron, selenium, zinc, cooper.
Kerman province is a vast region with an area of 714,181 square kilometers located in southeastern Iran (latitude 30° north). Epidemiology of MS in different area of Kerman province are varied. Of course we observed an latitudes differences in different areas of Kerman province.
A cross-sectional study was conducted on MS patients in Kerman province in 2012. The details of the patients including age, sex, age at the onset of disorder and disease duration were collected from documents of MS centers of all cities. Diagnosis was confirmed according to the revised Mc-Donald criteria.
The climate varies in different parts of Kerman province. The rate of MS patients in Sirjan city with mines of iron is near 32, Rafsanjan city with some cooper mines is 27,and in Zarand city with a lot of coal mines is 27, these cities are dry and with an average temperature range of 16–20°C. The rate MS patients in Kahnuj city is near 2, Bam 17.5, and Jiroft, 14, these cities are warm and semi humid weather (average temperature of >20°C).
The mean prevalence of MS in mineral areas in Kerman province (Kahnoj, Sirjan, Zarand, Rafsanjan, Baft, Shahrbabak) was 23.01±10.78 and in non-mineral areas (Kerman, Bam, Jiroft) was 39.56±20.34 that show the higher prevalence of MS in non-mineral areas of Kerman province. A linear relationship between an increase in prevalence and low average temperature was observed. In the town of Shahrbabak which has cold weather, prevalence was low, which might be related to the presence a lot of copper mines in this area, because the ccooper is used in the synthesis of myelin.