The genetic analysis of multiple sclerosis

Although monogenic diseases often show extreme clinical phenotypes, the major burden of genetic ill health lies in the more prevalent polygenic disorders, such as diabetes hypertension and multiple sclerosis. These conditions affect mag thousands of individuals and their management consumes vast amounts of health care resources: in the UK some 80 000 people have multiple sclerosis; the estimated financial cost to society of introducing treatments, such as beta interferon, could be as high as 250 million pounds per year. Knowledge or the genetics of these common diseases is poor, but has potentially received a considerable boost with the arrival of whole genome screening. The genome screen in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) reported in 1994 was the first in a human polygenic disease Since this publication whole genome screening has been performed in a variety of human polygenic diseases including schizophrenia bipolar affective disorder non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) inflammatory, bowel disease asthma and multiple sclerosis.