HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH REGISTER		Author Keyword(s) Vol Page [Advanced]

To: Journal of PRACTICAL NEUROLOGY Letters

Electronic Letters to:

Short reports: C H Hawkes Is multiple sclerosis a sexually transmitted infection? J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2002; 73: 439-443 [Abstract] [Full text] [PDF]

eLetters: Submit a response to this article

Electronic letters published:

Genetic susceptibility to Multiple Sclerosis

Christopher Hawkes   (24 October 2002)

Re: Is multiple sclerosis a sexually transmitted infection?

Heidi Watson   (24 October 2002)

Genetic susceptibility to Multiple Sclerosis 24 October 2002
Christopher Hawkes, Neurologist Essex Centre for Neurology & Neurosurgery Send letter to journal: Re: Genetic susceptibility to Multiple Sclerosis chrishawkes{at}msn.com Christopher Hawkes	Dear Editor Reply to Heidi Watson What I suggested is that some people are born with gene(s)that confer susceptibility to a sexually transmissible agent, perhaps a retrovirus. If and when they come into contact with the agent then the disease may develop. This principle is well known and applies to other non-sexually tranmitted infections such as TB, leprosy, leishmaniasis and poliomyelitis.
Re: Is multiple sclerosis a sexually transmitted infection? 24 October 2002
Heidi Watson, Forensic Psychologist Prison Service Headquarters, British Psychological Society Send letter to journal: Re: Re: Is multiple sclerosis a sexually transmitted infection? hwatson10{at}hotmail.com Heidi Watson	Dear Editor This correspondence is for the author: I am writing in response to your interview on Radio 4 - aired 20/09/02 and after having read the abstract for the above research. My question is simple. You argue that sexual transmission is not the only cause of MS and instead there are inherited factors that make someone who already has a sexually transmitted neurotropic agent more susceptible to the disease, but in doing so, aren't you making the assumption that they already have a sexually transmitted neurotropic agent? So if you're not saying that sufferers of MS have contracted it through sexual contact, are you saying that someone who has MS has a member of their family who has passed on a neurotropic agent (through sexual contact) which has now made them susceptable to the disease. If this is your argument which line are you defending? That MS sufferers are, or have been, sexually promiscuous or that historically, a direct descendant of theirs has been. I look forward to you reply Heidi Watson