Ingrid A.F. van der Mei (a), Anne-Louise
Ponsonby (b), (c), Leigh Blizzard(b), Terence Dwyer (b)
(a) Cooperative Research Centre
for Discovery of Genes for Common Human Diseases at the Menzies Centre
for Population Health Research, and
(b) Menzies Centre for Population
Health Research, University of Tasmania, Hobart;
(c) Academic Unit of General Practice
and Community Care, Canberra Clinical School, University of Sydney, Australia
Neuroepidemiology 20:3:2001, 168-174.
Abstract
The aim of this study was to conduct
an ecological analysis of the extent to which ultraviolet radiation (UVR)
levels might explain the regional variation of multiple sclerosis (MS)
in Australia.
MS prevalence data for six Australian
regions were compared with UVR levels of the largest city in each region,
with some other climatic variables and with the melanoma incidence in the
same regions.
A close association was found between
the theoretical MS prevalence predicted from UVR levels and the actual
prevalence.
Furthermore, the negative correlation
between UVR and MS prevalence (r = -0.91, p = 0.01) was higher than the
positive correlation observed for UVR and malignant melanoma incidence
(r = 0.75, p = 0.15 for males and r = 0.80, p = 0.10 for females).
This study demonstrated that the
regional variation in MS prevalence in the continent of Australia could
be closely predicted by regional UVR levels.
It is consistent with the hypothesis
that UVR exposure may reduce the risk of MS possibly via T-lymphocyte-mediated
immunosuppression.
Analytical epidemiology studies are
required to investigate this specific hypothesis.
Copyright © 2001 S. Karger AG,
Basel