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MS is widely believed to be a multifactoral condition meaning that development is influenced by environmental triggers acting on an underlying genetic susceptibility.
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Seventy to eighty percent (70-80%) of people with MS are the only member of their immediate or extended family with this diagnosis.
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Background lifetime risk for MS in North American Caucasians is between 1/1000 (0.1%) and 1/500 (0.2%)
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Having a first-degree relative with MS increases the chances of developing the condition to 3-5%. This means there is a 95-97% chance that the siblings or children of someone with MS will not develop the disease.
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Having two parents with MS increases the chances of developing MS to 30%. This means there is a 70% chance that the children of two affected parents will not develop MS.
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Even in rare cases with a very strong family history of MS, the chance of a relative to developing MS never exceeds 50%.
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Pediatric onset MS is rare. This means that for most patients, their children are not at risk of developing MS until the third or fourth decade of life. Hope for MS treatment and prevention in the future should be emphasized.
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There is no prenatal testing available for MS.
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The MS recurrence risks quoted are over and above the 3-5% chance that any couple in the population will have a child with some type of birth defect or developmental deficit unrelated to MS.
