Head trauma in adolescence, particularly if repeated, is associated with a raised risk of future multiple sclerosis (MS), possibly due to initiation of an autoimmune process in the central nervous system, according to a recent study. This further emphasizes the importance of protecting young people from head injuries. Both hospital diagnoses and MS registers were used to identify all MS diagnoses up to 2012 among people born from 1964. The 7,292 patients with MS were matched individually with 10 people without MS by sex, year of birth, age/vital status at diagnosis, and region of residence, resulting in a study population of 80,212. Researchers found:

• Concussion in adolescence was associated with a raised risk of MS, producing adjusted odds ratios of 1.22 (1.05-1.42) and 2.33 (1.35-4.04) for 1 diagnosis of concussion, or >1 diagnosis of concussion, respectively, compared with none.
• No notable association with MS was observed for concussion in childhood, or broken limb bones in childhood and adolescence.