Too Little Good Quality Sleep During Teenage Years May Heighten Subsequent Multiple Sclerosis Risk - Neuroscience News

Insufficient and disturbed sleep during the teenage years may heighten the subsequent risk of multiple sclerosis (MS), suggests a case-control study published online in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.

MS is influenced by both genetic and environmental factors, including smoking, teenage weight (BMI), Epstein-Barr virus infection, sun exposure, and vitamin D, note the researchers.

To explore this further, the researchers drew on a population-based case-control study, the Epidemiological Investigation of Multiple Sclerosis (EIMS), comprising 16–70-year-old Swedish residents.

Image is in the public domainThe researchers caution that their findings should be interpreted cautiously on account of potential reverse causation—whereby poor sleep could be a consequence of neurological damage rather than the other way round.

Availability of technology and internet access at any time contributes to insufficient sleep among adolescents and represents an important public health issue,” they add.

Shift work, which often results in sleep deprivation and circadian desynchrony, has been associated with increased risk of multiple sclerosis (MS).