Diet and Multiple Sclerosis: a population-based study in the city of Biancavilla

Abstract Background The influence of dietary habits on the pathogenesis of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) has been a topic of interest for years. The municipality of Biancavilla, in Southern Italy, is considered a high-risk area for MS, with a prevalence of 292.3/100,000 persons and an incidence of 16.8/100,000/year. We investigated the nutritional habits of this population to clarify the reasons of the increased incidence rate of MS recorded in this area in the last decades. Methods In this population-based case-control study conducted in the municipality of Biancavilla, we evaluated the intake frequency of different food products of 60 patients with MS and 174 sex-matched and age-matched controls. A semi-structured standardized questionnaire was administered to explore the weekly consumption of four categories of food (meat, fish, milk/dairy products, fat dressings of vegetable origin) during the periods of childhood-early adolescence (before the age of 15) and during late adolescence-adulthood (after 15 years). Results The intake of meat was not different between cases and controls, nor globally neither considering each type of meat (beef, pork, sheep meat, horse meat, cold meats, sausages, smoked meat, brain). Similarly, no differences were detected in the intake frequency of fish (bluefish, riverfish, smoked fish, crustaceans, mollusks), milk and dairy products of different animal origin, nor in the consumption of fat products of vegetable origin (margarine, olive and seed oils) between cases and controls. Conclusion The results of our study clearly indicate no association between the intake frequency of different food products and MS in the town of Biancavilla.