Multiple Sclerosis: What’s the real reason why you should stop smoking?

We all know that smoking is not good for our health. So, whenever you go to a doctor he will advise you to stop. The same happens of course if you are diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Now researcher found out that there is a very specific reason why MS patients should stop smoking. It is not only because of the general health harming effects of smoking, such as

• Cardiovascular disease like Stroke and Heart attack (risk 2 to 4 fold)

• Lung cancer (risk 25 fold)

• Others…

Smoking causes faster progression of Multiple Sclerosis. Each additional year of smoking after diagnosis accelerated the time to conversion to SPMS (secondary progressive multiple sclerosis) by 4.7%. People who stopped smoking after being diagnosed had a slower progression of the disease.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disorder in which the immune system of your own body attacks the nerves and especially their myelin sheaths. Myelin damage disrupts communication between…read more

The authors of the study advised the following: “Therefore, we propose that patients with MS should be advised to stop smoking once a diagnosis has been made, not only to lessen risks for comorbidities, but also to avoid aggravating MS-related disability.”