Anthony Gregory|Derek G. Shendell|Ike S. Okosun|Karen E. Gieseker
Multiple Sclerosis disease distribution and potential impact of environmental air pollutants in Georgia
Georgia State University|Johns Hopkins Medicine|Johns Hopkins University|Georgia State University|Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute|Georgia State University|Georgia State University
multiple sclerosis ms one common diseases central nervous system although disease associated genetic environmental factors neither clear causes clear temporality respect exposure purpose study explore potential relationships ms outdoor air pollutants ga study used crosssectional data members list multiple sclerosis societys ga chapter mssga us census database countylevel toxic release inventory data emissions across identified reporting sources outdoor air surrogate indicator potential exposure criteria pollutant subject regulation chemical toxicants final study population 9072576 people including 6247 selfreported ms cases mssga cases stratified gender transformed countylevel selfreported prevalence rates using 2005 us census estimates countylevel prevalence displayed using geographic information system linear regression conducted investigate potential relationships selfreported ms prevalence rates census data environmental outdoor air pollutant indicators ms prevalence tended clustered within largest metropolitan statistical area msa georgia around atlanta fulton county best predictive models ms prevalence ga included per capita income pm10 females per capita income males clustering prevalence ms largest msa georgia controlling population distribution suggested urban attributes may associated ms results study suggested potential role pm10 etiology ms females perhaps due influence pm10 systemic immune response inflammation based initial exploratory study recommend basic clinical exposure research understand environmental influences ms particular outdoor air pollutants like particles attached chemicals metals known adverse cardiopulmonary health outcomes subject federal state regulations could examined using routinely collected outdoor air monitoring station data andor modeling