[secondmertg]

I have been told that more than half of fatalities of people with multiple sclerosis are caused by multiple sclerosis.

What are the details of this? What are the mechanisms by which multiple sclerosis can cause death?

[OEMCHEAPSOFTDOWNLOAD]

Respiratory failure.

[Nikkkola]

You ask an interesting question, so I went a-searchin'.

Firstly, I found this layman's article. it basically says that it is "very rare" for patients to die from MS and that the life expectancy for a MS patient is the same for a non-MS patient.

Then I found an actual study. This is the abstract:

Causes of death among patients with
multiple sclerosis
Marja-Liisa Sumelahti1, Matti Hakama2,3, Irina Elovaara1 and
Eero Pukkala2,3
Abstract
Background: Several studies show a high mortality risk among patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).
Objectives: In this study, mortality and underlying causes of death were analysed among patients with MS diagnosed
between 1964–1993 in Finland (n¼ 1595).
Methods: Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were calculated for both genders. The follow-up was based on linkage
to the national computerized Cause-of-Death Register of Statistics Finland.
Results: Altogether, 464 deaths were recorded by the end of 2006. The SMR as compared with the general population
among females was 3.4 (95% confidence interval 3.0–3.9) and among males 2.2 (1.9–2.6). In total, 270 patients (58%) died
from MS; only one of these deaths occurred during the first 2 years after the MS diagnosis. Mortality was also increased for
other natural causes of death (n¼160) in patients followed for more than 10 years (SMR 1.4, 1.2–1.7), with a significant
increase in deaths from influenza (29, 6.0–85), pneumonia (4.7, 2.5–8.0) and gastrointestinal causes (4.4, 2.3–7.7). The SMR
for violent causes was 1.2 (0.7–1.9) and for alcohol-related deaths 0.2 (0.02–0.7). The SMR for suicides was 1.7 (0.9–2.7).
Conclusions: The MS population has an increased disease mortality, while the increase in the risk of accidents and
suicides is not significantly increased among patients with MS in Finland.

[Maryjasmine]

The Finland study shows an increase of infections and respiratory diseases in MS patients, which account for a higher mortality rate, but not from the actual MS itself. Several studies indicate that a programmed cell death of T lymphocytes also accounts for many MS deaths.