Study shows that psychiatry issues could be linked to multiple sclerosis diagnosis

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- A new study reveals a potential early indicator of multiple sclerosis, (MS) years before symptoms appear. The University of British Columbia found that psychiatric issues, including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia could be linked to the disease.

MS is a chronic disease that affects elements of the central nervous system, including the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves.

Experts believe it is an immune system malfunction that leads to damage to the protective layer, in the brain that impacts neuron function. The study linking potential early indicators to the disease was just published in Neurology last week. The authors analyzed administrative and clinical data from British Columbia in Canada.

The researchers looked at the quartet of populations starting five years before diagnosis of MS. In their administrative cohort, based on claims of demyelination which is a condition that causes damage to the protective layer that surrounds nerve fibers in the brain, there were more than 68,000 cases of MS and almost 32,000 controls. In the clinical cohort, the onset of MS symptoms, there were almost 1,000 cases of MS and more than 45,000 controls.

The study finds that people who eventually develop MS in the administrative cohort have twice the number of psychiatric issues before an MS diagnosis than members of an MS-free control group, 28% compared to almost 15%. Similar findings were observed in the clinical cohort, 22% compared to about 14%.

The study's authors also observed that healthcare usage, including psychiatric sessions, prescriptions, and hospitalizations, was higher among people in the administrative cohort who eventually developed MS.