Clinical features of African- and Caucasian-Americans

Overall, the results revealed that African-Americans tend to have a more severe disease course and are more likely to have the opticospinal form of MS and transverse myelitis. The increase in severity may be partially explained by the later age at onset, which has been associated with faster progression in other studies. The authors discussed whether differences in medical care could also help account for the differences in disability progression. They note that all participants were followed by neurologists and that AAs were equally likely to receive MS disease-modifying drugs as CAs, but also pointed out that there were differences between the groups in treatment duration and numbers of different treatments given. The authors also mention that genetic studies are being carried out to assess the influence on MS risk from genetic variants that are African or Caucasian in origin. It may also be that these studies could indicate genes that influence clinical features of MS, such as those that were found in this study."