A Review of Geoepidemiological Differences of Multiple Sclerosis in Iran and Other Middle East Countries

Review of epidemiological studies of different geographical regions show a wide variation in the prevalence of multiple sclerosis (MS) worldwide. This study compares related geoepidemiological differences in prevalence of MS in the Middle East. Key words relevant to “prevalence of multiple sclerosis” were searched for with countries in the Middle East. A prevalence of 31–55 per 100,000 individuals has been reported for Persian Gulf countries. The reported prevalence per Kuwait (n = 85.05) and United Arab Emirate (n = 54.4) seems to be high. The reported prevalence for Turkey and Jordan were 51 and 20, correspondingly. Within Iran, the highest and lowest prevalence seem to belong to Isfahan (n = 93.06) and Golestan (n = 18.0), respectively. Immunomodulating drugs such as Interferon-beta as a first-line therapy; and cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, mitoxantrone, and azathioprine have been considered as second-line therapies. The high prevalence of MS in the Middle East might be pointed toward the adverse effects of low vitamin D, individual daily life, smoking, Epstein-Barr virus infection, hereditary affects, and a history of depression.