Exposure to air pollution, particularly to particulate matter 10 (PM10), small airborne and inhalable particles, may trigger inflammatory reactions in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), an Italian study reported. The study “Air pollution as a contributor to the inflammatory activity of multiple sclerosis” was published in the Journal of…

Editor’s note: “Need to Know” is a series inspired by common forum questions and comments from readers. Have a comment or question about MS? Visit our forum. This week’s question is inspired by the forum post “From Sun to Salt: Growing Role of Environment in MS,” published on…

Exposure to air pollutants, particularly to fine particle pollutants (2.5 micrometers or less in diameter), seems to increase a person’s risk of multiple sclerosis (MS), a study from northern Italy suggests. It found that people living in urban, more polluted areas have a 16% higher relative risk  of developing this…

People living close to major roads or highways are at a greater risk of multiple sclerosis (MS), a database study of people in metropolitan Vancouver reports. Parks and other green spaces in urban areas that might lower exposure to air pollutants did not affect a person’s overall risk of developing MS,…

Long-term exposure to three common air pollutants — fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone — were not found to be “convincingly” linked to incidence of multiple sclerosis (MS) in a large population study conducted in Canada. The study, “Long-term exposure to air pollution and the incidence of multiple sclerosis: A…

Last week saw much of the Pacific Northwest blanketed by smoke from wildfires in British Colombia. As I pondered the gray haze Thursday, I recalled a piece from a fellow columnist in June about air pollution and MS. In addition to MS, I also have asthma. Therefore, the health…

In case you missed them, here are some news stories that appeared in MS News Today that caught my eye over the past week. **** Air Pollution May Trigger Relapses in MS Patients, French Study Finds Attention if you live in location where the air…

Air pollution, particularly tiny inhalable particles around 10 micrometers in diameter, is a likely trigger for relapses in multiple sclerosis patients, a French study reports. The study, “Air pollution by particulate matter PM10 may trigger multiple sclerosis relapses,” was published in the journal Environmental Research. A growing number of epidemiological studies suggest…