Sadly the only research I've read seems to overwhelmingly indicate that smokers don't do as well but please if someone has credible info to the contrary I'd love to start puffing again!

Me, I don't know. Someone "up there" has it out for me? I did have numerous strep infections r/t toncilitis as a child but other than that was very healthy. I have a cousin with MS also so my money is on a familial pre-disposition at the very least.

FWIW after MS I had the HepB vaccine series, Rabies pre-exposure series and Lyme disease without any noticible effect on my MS.

I see some new names on the board and thought I might revive this old thread AGAIN so they may join in.

It's always good to hear some theories...

I had the 3 Hep vaccines, afterwards started with severe dizziness, but wasn't diagnosed until 10 or 12 years later. I also have the herpes virus that causes fever blisters, but I've had that since I was a teen. Don't have any idea, which I did.

I am a smoker; my neuro states people progress much faster, if they smoke. All I can pull up also points to faster progression among smokers.

So, happy you were able to stop.

There was some research about Parkinson's and smoking. Maybe that's where it's coming from? I know Jim's spinal doc swears smoking increases Jim's risk of UTI. We cut down to five a day and sure enough Jim hasn't had a major UTI since. Go figure.

SandyC; I know the incidence of bladder cancer increases with smoking, especially for older women who tend not to drink enough to flush out the system. The toxins are filtered by the kidneys and the bad stuff sits in the bladder until expelled. Nasty stuff sitting around in wet spaces often multiply and attack, thus causing problems.
Perhaps on a smaller scale, that's what causes uti's ?

I wonder on what they'll blame for all these smoker caused illnesses, when everyone quits smoking.

I think chocolate is the next logical candidate..

Kim and I believe that her MS was initiated by Pneumonia she had as a kid. There is a reasonably thought out body of knowledge linking MS to this unique bacterial infection. I think MS has multiple causes, not just C. pneumoniae. Ken

I started out with a peripheral neuropathy diagnosis, antibiotic side-effect suspected . . . but my MS specialist (do not have a firm DX yet) said he felt that was a misdiagnosis. And in fact, instead of getting better when I stopped taking the medication . . . I have continued to worsen. My numbness and burning and electric shock sensations in my feet have turned into spasms and severe pain. I also think I may have blamed my first MS hug symptoms on other issues too. And it didn't help that I have had 6 abdominal surgeries in 8 years, Crohn's, gall bladder, colectomy. I am riddled with autoimmune diseases all related to Crohn's.

Epidemiologic evidence, in particular that from the Faroe Islands, suggests a systemic infectious cause. Kurtzke, John 1993 Epidemiologic Evidence for Multiple Sclerosis as an Infection