Black MS patients dying younger in national mortality study
A Neurology Open Access study found MS-related death rates peak a decade earlier for Black patients, with high blood pressure playing a growing role.
By Tom Brennan · Health & Medicine Correspondent
3 min read
Black MS patients dying younger than white patients is the central finding of a new national mortality study published in Neurology Open Access. Researchers reported that MS-related deaths among Black patients most often occurred at ages 65 to 74, compared with ages 75 to 84 among white patients.
The analysis matters because it points to a racial gap in outcomes for people living with multiple sclerosis, a disease the researchers studied through U.S. death records. The study also found that overall death rates among people with MS rose from 2012 through 2023.
Dr. Lilyana Amezcua, a neurology professor at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, said in a news release that the causes of the disparity are not yet clear. She said possible factors include differences in disease progression, access to care, lifestyle and other health conditions.
What did the study find about Black MS patients dying younger?
Researchers found that the age pattern for MS-related deaths differed by race. Deaths among Black people with MS peaked one decade earlier than deaths among white people with MS, according to the study.
The researchers reviewed more than 42,000 U.S. deaths recorded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Across the population, the MS death rate was 1.1 per 100,000 people, with a rate of 1.3 for women and 0.8 for men, according to the study.
The study reported different death rates by race, ethnicity and sex:
- Black women had a death rate of nearly 1.6 per 100,000, while Black men had a rate of nearly 1.
- White women had a rate of about 1.5 per 100,000, while white men had a rate of 0.9.
- Hispanic women had a rate of nearly 0.4 per 100,000, while Hispanic men had a rate of 0.3.
Amezcua said researchers might have expected newer MS treatments to level off mortality trends over time. Instead, she said, the continued increase in death rates shows a need to better address other medical problems in people with MS.
How does high blood pressure fit into MS mortality?
High blood pressure played an increasing role in MS-related deaths from 2019 to 2023, especially among Black and white people, the researchers found. Amezcua said the results point to a need for targeted efforts such as earlier screening, better access to primary care and steps to reduce cardiovascular complications in groups at higher risk.
The researchers said other health problems are tied to worse long-term outcomes for people with MS. Amezcua said many of those conditions can be prevented or treated, and that care for people with MS should consider a patient’s overall health rather than the neurological disease alone.
Amezcua also said co-occurring conditions could contribute to delays in diagnosing MS. For example, she said, brain damage linked to a heart condition can look similar to MS on scans, making the conditions harder to tell apart.
This story draws on original reporting from Medical Xpress.