The 5,000-Year History of MS
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A few weeks ago, I was in a stuffy “dead room” on the 11th floor of the famous Brill Building on Broadway, in New York City. I was recording the audio version of my latest book, Living Well With Multiple Sclerosis . We’ll make sure we let everyone know when that is released. Anyway, I found it interesting that while I was reading from a piece that I’d originally written in 2013, about the traceability of genetic markers for multiple sclerosis (MS) back to the Vikings, new research was being released that pushed the origins of the disease back even further … quite a bit further. How the Vikings Spread MS Genes The report on the Norse connection was published by the Journal of the Neurological Sciences back in 1990. In the study, it was observed that Arabs of Palestinian descent living in Kuwait were 2.5 times more likely to develop MS than Arabs of Kuwaiti origin. Along with significant differences in eye color, blood type, and other factors, susceptibility to MS was determined to be related to origination in the Eastern Mediterranean basin and, further, to Viking invasions of said territories. The Yamnaya Peoples and MS The new study, published in the journal Nature , has followed the genetic trail back as far as the Yamnaya peoples of the western Eurasian Pontic Steppe and their migration into Europe. The paper was one of a series that studied ancient DNA in Asia and Europe. One of those found that genetic links to an increased risk for diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease were carried about 11,000 years ago by hunter-gatherer people who came to the area, which had been settled by farmers some 35,000 years before that. The Pontic Steppe became a semi-settled farming and herding land of the Yamnaya. As the genetic material of these differing peoples began to intermingle, genetic markers began to come to prominence that we can now see as related to susceptibility to MS and the other aforementioned conditions. This series of articles is a fascinating read if you’re into such things. ‘Evolutionary Maladaptation’ Theory of MS About 5,000 years ago, the Yamnaya began to migrate into northern Europe. It’s believed that they possessed genetic variations providing an “evolutionary advantage” that allowed for wide distribution of their genes in the population. “These variants that are causing the high risk of multiple sclerosis today must in the past have had a benefit,” said Eske Willerslev, ScD , a geneticist at the University of Copenhagen and a leader of the research. This type of benefit in one aspect of life at the detriment of others is known as an evolutionary maladaptation. In evolution, a maladaptation is a trait that is (or has become) more harmful than helpful. I don’t know what part of it was beneficial to the Yamnaya, but I can’t find any benefits to my multiple sclerosis … When an Advantage Becomes a Disadvantage Joking aside, it may have been the same overactive immune system traits that can’t discern between friendly myelin and bodily interlopers that helped the migrating Yamnaya to resist plagues. In particular, the MS-associated variants could have protected the Yamnaya herders against diseases carried by their horses, sheep, cattle, and goats. While science (via antibiotics and vaccinations) and a higher state of general hygiene have allowed us to move past such diseases in ways not requiring genetic protections, the genes that may have kept these ancient ancestors safe have not changed … and the resulting revved-up immune systems have run right over the top of us. Wishing you and your family the best of health. Cheers, Trevis My new book, Living Well With Multiple Sclerosis , is now available. Follow me on the Life With MS Facebook page , and read more on Life With Multiple Sclerosis .
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