slb@drutx.UUCP (Sue Brezden) (01/29/86)
>Any truth to the story I heard about distemper causing M.S. and >its typical insulation breakdown? (I had a big power supply that >came down with a problem like that in its cable loom(8-).) My mother has MS, so I try to follow these things. There's a rumor of a cause every year, and a rumor of a cure every few months. What you are refering to was a hypothesis that someone came up with a couple of years ago to try to explain the bizarre demographics of MS. It seems that MS occurs most in the northern part of the country, and in northern Europe. Not much of it in the south. It clusters right around the 40th parallel in this country. Many MS victims had small dogs when young. Not large dogs. The theory was that dogs carry some kind of virus (not distempter, something else--something that does not affect the dog) that causes MS in humans. The reason that people in the north are more at risk is that they are more likely to take the dog in the house. Small dogs are also more likely to be house dogs. Think this idea is currently out of favor. It explains a couple of things but not why the disease affects women more than men, whites more than blacks, people who have it in their families more than those who do not (for instance, besides my mother, my grandfather had it and probably my great-grandfather), and people who grow up in northern areas more than people who move there later. The current view is that it is an autoimmune disease, possibly touched off by a mild viral infection in childhood. That infection could be spread by dogs, who knows? No direct link between dogs and MS has been found. I'm a cat person myself (but grew up right on the 40th parallel, am white and female, have it in my family, and had a small dog when I was young. I trip over my own feet a lot but so far it's just native clumsiness. :-) -- Sue Brezden ihnp4!drutx!slb ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To search for perfection is all very well, But to look for heaven is to live here in hell. --Sting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
wurzelma@aecom.UUCP (John Wurzelmann) (02/04/86)
> >Any truth to the story I heard about distemper causing M.S. and > >its typical insulation breakdown? (I had a big power supply that > >came down with a problem like that in its cable loom(8-).) > In the same vein, there is evidence accumulating that Paget's disease, a problem with bone remodeling that occurs in older people, is associated with an increased incidence of dog-owning. Several canine viruses have been proposed as possible etiological agents. John Wurzelmann