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Prevalence of multiple sclerosis in Iranian emigrants: review of the evidence

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Abstract

Iran has the highest prevalence of multiple sclerosis (MS) in the Middle East and Asia. Rate of emigration has been significantly raised among Iranians and though, multiple studies have been published on prevalence of MS among Iranian emigrants. Here we systematically reviewed these publications. We performed a comprehensive literature search was performed on April 30, 2015 in data bases of MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus and Google Scholar for the terms ‘multiple sclerosis’, ‘incidence’, ‘prevalence’, ‘epidemiology’, ‘migration’, ‘emigrant’, ‘immigrant’, ‘Iran’, ‘Parsis’ and ‘Persian’. Study location, prevalence day or period, and age of at disease onset were recorded for all the included publications. Nine publications from Sweden, Canada, Norway, UK, and India were included. Only three reported age-adjusted prevalence and six reported age of disease onset. MS prevalence among Iranian emigrants varied from 21 per 100,000 people in Bombay, India in 1985 to 433 per 100,000 people in British Columbia, Canada in 2012. Five studies reported the prevalence in the region of interest, ranging from 1.33 in Bombay, India to 240 in British Columbia, Canada. Five studies also reported the prevalence of MS in the population of the destination country, and in all of them, the prevalence of MS was higher in Iranian immigrants compared to native people. Prevalence studies performed in Iran and also on Iranian emigrants indicate roles for both genetic and environmental factors in MS susceptibility. Data might indicate that living in a high-risk area increases the susceptibility to MS.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Isfahan Research Committee of Multiple Sclerosis, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    Zahra Nasr & Masoud Etemadifar

  2. Medical Students’ Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    Zahra Nasr

  3. Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA

    Masoud Majed

  4. Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA

    Masoud Majed

  5. Department of Neurology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Abdolmohamad Rostami

  6. Department of Neurology and MS Research Center, Neuroscience Institute, Sina Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Mohamad Ali Sahraian

  7. Department of Neurology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, 1501 Kings Highway, Shreveport, LA, 71130, USA

    Alireza Minagar & Jeanine C. McGee

  8. Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University College London, London, UK

    Arman Amini

Authors
  1. Zahra Nasr
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  2. Masoud Majed
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  3. Abdolmohamad Rostami
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  4. Mohamad Ali Sahraian
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  5. Alireza Minagar
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  6. Arman Amini
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  7. Jeanine C. McGee
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  8. Masoud Etemadifar
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Correspondence to Zahra Nasr.

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Nasr, Z., Majed, M., Rostami, A. et al. Prevalence of multiple sclerosis in Iranian emigrants: review of the evidence. Neurol Sci 37, 1759–1763 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-016-2641-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-016-2641-7

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