Multiple Sclerosis in Children

Multiple sclerosis in children is the last thing I'd think would ever happen. Cir has often said he would not wish MS on his worst enemy. When I first heard about MS in little children, I was shocked to say the least. Having to deal with the effects of MS as a young adult, developing it between 20 and 40 is hard enough. Having to deal with it at an even younger age has to be even more devastating.

As far as I'm concerned, a child should never have to deal with the uncertainties of such a potentially disabling disease. And to think the youngest known case was about 2 years old. How terrible is that?

I can imagine the parents of older children with multiple sclerosis dealing with their own feelings, let alone a very young child or teen. Feelings of guilt – wondering what I did to cause my child to have MS. I know I would feel this way if one of my children came to me and told me they have multiple sclerosis, and they are young adults.

After learning more about multiple sclerosis, though, it's almost hit or miss whether your child will develop MS. Genetic factors may be a cause for some cases of multiple sclerosis in a child, but environmental factors may also be part of the reason someone is diagnosed with the disease.

What our doctor says

Cir and I have asked the doctor more than once, what chance our children have of getting MS. The first few times he assured us that we had nothing to worry about. Multiple sclerosis in children with a parent who had MS is only slightly higher than in the general population.

The last time we asked about it; however, he had been doing a sort of study with his patients at the Oak Clinic (link opens in a new window). He had been checking the vitamin d levels of several patients who came to see him at the clinic. He told us that his findings showed that most of his patients with MS had very low levels of vitamin d.

He suggested to us, just to be on the safe side, that we encourage our children to take vitamin d supplements. He suggested that I take it also, because I have family members who also have multiple sclerosis; one of my older brothers and one of my younger brothers. 

Cir has a cousin with a progressive form of MS that developed later (although we are not sure if she had symptoms that she ignored or that she attributed to other things when she was younger. Cir had some of his first symptoms as a teen.

No symptoms

Our two oldest children are 25 and 23, (now 43 and 39, soon to be 40). They have not had any symptoms that we know of, at least they haven't told us of any. Our youngest daughter is 14, (now 32) and so far, no symptoms.

I don't believe we're being paranoid. We're just trying to be proactive. We learned so much about the disease at this point that it's easy to see others who have it, too. We'll see someone with an AFO and wonder if they have footdrop because of MS. We'll see youngish people with canes and walkers and wonder the same. 

Healthy habits

We have always tried to do the things that are healthy. Eating well, taking vitamins. Trying to stay at a healthy weight. Trying not to eat so many sweets (that's a really hard one). Avoiding processed foods. And now we're adopting a more plant-based lifestyle which is proving to be even more helpful in managing Cir's symptoms.

Many of these changes we started after first suspecting and then learning that Cir had MS. Hoping that if he kept up healthy lifestyle habits, the multiple sclerosis wouldn't progress as quickly.

As youngsters, our children developed a sense of what was healthy because they were still at home with us when their dad developed MS. They now remind us of the things they learned from us. I'm not saying they didn't stray along the way. We all have. But for the most part we end up back where we started. Trying to make the healthiest choices.

Begin now

If you know that MS is a possibility in your family, if I were you, I would begin now to make changes that could ultimately make a huge difference in your quality of life even if you do develop MS. Although scientists and doctors don't know all the answers for sure, what hurt can it do? Living a healthier lifestyle is a good thing for everyone; young and old alike.

If you live in a temperate climate, supplement with vitamin D3, especially during the colder months. We were lucky enough to have lots of sunshine this summer of '08. We took advantage of it every moment we could.

Average age of Multiple Sclerosis in children

Cir's MS started around the age of 16 as I mentioned earlier. A study in Europe showed that the average age of multiple sclerosis in children was around 14 years. Before age 12 boys are more likely to show signs of MS. Girls were more likely to be diagnosed with the disease after age 12.

Another thing they found was that children with MS took at least 10 years before they started having trouble with their balance leading to trouble walking. But because multiple sclerosis in children starts about 20 years earlier, they also had a tendency to have more disability at an earlier age as an adult.

To read more about Multiple Sclerosis in Children - Part 2, click the link.

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