Comorbidities are the various other conditions people may be living with, in addition to their MS. Many comorbidities can complicate your life with MS, and some may even cause MS symptoms to be more severe or detrimental to your quality of life. It’s important for MS patients to do what they can to prevent the onset of other conditions when possible, and critical to manage them alongside their MS if one or more arise. The most common comorbidities reported among older adults with MS, and percentage of patients reporting them, include:
- depression (23.7%)
- anxiety (21.9%)
- hypertension (18.6%)
- hypercholesterolemia/high cholesterol (10.9%)
- chronic lung disease (10%)
Source: Patient Related Outcome Measures, 2018; 9: 97–102
