Pregnancy can provide needed protection.

• Position: Multiple Sclerosis - Brief article

Pregnancy appears to have a positive effect on long-term disability in women with two types of multiple sclerosis, indicating that reproductive hormones may play a protective role in MS progression, neurology researchers at the University at Buffalo (N.Y.) have found. Women with either relapsing (R-MS) or primary progressive disease (PPMS) who do not bear children are more likely to have higher disability scores than those who had at least one child.

Women with no live births (nulliparous) with progressive MS disease are 2.1 times more likely to have more severe disability compared to women with at least one live birth (parous), reports Barbara Teter, assistant professor of neurology and director of research and development for the New York State MS Consortium.

"Women with MS have a chronic and unpredictable course of disease that strikes during childbearing years. Evaluation of the differences between parous and nulliparous women with long-standing MS provides clinical insight regarding the potentially protective...