Although the exact causes and risk factors of multiple sclerosis are still unknown to modern medical science, it is believed that the disease occurs on the premises of inherited genetic dysfunctions and is triggered by certain environmental factors (either exposure to chemicals or infections with viruses or bacteria). Despite the fact that medical scientists have conducted elaborate research on multiple sclerosis over the last few years, the exact genes that render people more susceptible to developing the autoimmune disorder and the exact environmental causative agents haven’t been identified yet. Medical scientists hope that in the near future they will be able not only to discover the exact causes of multiple sclerosis, but also find efficient means of preventing the occurrence of the disorder in persons with predisposition to autoimmune disorders.

According to recent studies in the field, genetic factors play a major role in the occurrence and progression of multiple sclerosis. Medical scientists inform that multiple sclerosis has a pronounced hereditary character, the genes that render people susceptible of developing the disorder being transmissible from one generation to another. Recent medical research has revealed the fact that the identical twin of a person diagnosed with multiple sclerosis has a 30 percent chance of developing the same disorder at a certain point in life. The risk of first degree relatives of persons with multiple sclerosis to develop the disorder is 50 times higher than that of persons with no family history of multiple sclerosis. Medical scientists are currently working to identify the exact genes that render persons with a family history of multiple sclerosis susceptible to developing the disorder at a certain stage in life.

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