MS and life expectancy - in box - Letter to the Editor

Inside MS, Oct-Dec, 2002

For years my doctors have been telling me that MS is not fatal. The times I've seen MS listed as a cause of death in an obituary, they've told me that it is a misunderstanding about the disease. Now I read the article by J.K. Rowling saying that her mother died from MS! Why have my neurologists pulled the wool over my eyes?

Name Withheld by Request

InsideMS received several letters that shared this concern. We asked our chief medical officer, Dr. Aaron Miller, to respond:

We rely on available data to assure people with MS that they are likely to live as long as everyone else. As a group, people with MS have a life expectancy estimated at 6-7 years less than the general population. The vast majority of people with MS die from the same diseases as everyone else--heart disease, cancer, or stroke.

Death caused directly by an MS lesion is extremely unusual. Without adequate medical care, it might result from a lesion in the part of the brain that regulates breathing or from large areas of demyelination that interfere with life-supporting systems in the body. Certain complications of advanced MS, such as severe urinary tract infections, pneumonia, or extensive skin breakdown, can also threaten life and may prove fatal even with adequate treatment. Modern antibiotic therapy and sophisticated supportive care strategies make it possible to control these problems in most cases. Severe untreated depression is also known to be responsible for the relatively high suicide rate among people with MS. The Society is committed to educating our community about the importance of identifying and treating MS-related depression.

The contradiction is apparent but not real: severe MS or its complications may be fatal, but the likelihood is so rare that MS cannot be considered a fatal disease.