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msb-0330 Scotia, Nova Scotia and MS

Page history last edited by Charles-A. Rovira 15 years, 9 months ago

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msb-0330 Scotia, Nova Scotia and MS

Direct Link to episode -> http://media.libsyn.com/media/msb/msb-0330_Scotia_Nova_Scotia_and_MS.m4a

The Who - My Generation (Marquee Club 1967)

. .

Intro

Disclaimer! Disclaimer! Disclaimer!

Survey

FeedBack comes first, so...

The "Wiki" [ http://www.msbpodcast.com/ ] is sort of a wrapper around the "podcast site" [ http://msb.libsyn.com/ ] which was itself a wrapper around the original "blog site" [ http://multiplesclerosisblog.blogspot.com/ ], and if I find a new way of reaching people, I may very well wrapper around the wiki. :-)

Keeping lines of communications open is what's its all about.

That's why I Twitter [ http://twitter.com/msbpodcast ].

---- "Scots Wae Hae" by: "Ken Campbel" http://www.kencampbellscotland.co.uk/

FeedForward

---- "Medley of Scots Tunes" by: "Rachel Barton Pine, violinist" http://www.rachelbartonpine.com/

FeedMe

---- "Molly Malone... Cats Perspective/Planxty Hewlett" by: "-MARC GUNN - Irish Scottish Folk Songs" http://www.marcgunn.com/

Thesis:

Shauna delves into ethnographics, geo-politics, and poses a surprising question at the end.

Well, "I" was surprised. :-)

---- "Scott Bakula" by: "Sunspot" http://www.sunspotmusic.com/

Synthesis:

Scotland, Nova Scotia and MS

As Canadians and Nova Scotians, we celebrate our heritage and our culture and our ties to the "old country". Food, music, dance, and literature are common things we share. Who in Nova Scotia hasn't heard of Robbie Burns or danced to a Scottish reel? The other thing we share is Multiple Sclerosis.

55,000 - 75,000 people in Canada have Multiple Sclerosis. In Atlantic Canada alone, we have 5,000 - one of the highest rates in the country. The MS Society in Scotland estimates 10,500 people have MS in Scotland. Based on recent population statistics, the two countries are almost equal in incidence of MS.  

One of the big questions is why? Well, the geographical incidence of MS increases the further away from the equator you get. For example, Mexico has a population of 90 million, 15,000 of whom have MS. We have one third the population, but more than three times the incidence of MS. Canada and Scotland are quite far away from Mexico, yet, per capita, have a much higher incidence of MS.  

Where did people from Scotland and other northern European areas settle when they left their home country? Many came to Canada. Early on they settled in Nova Scotia and branched out from there.  

    The ethnocultural portrait of Canada's provinces and territories reflects both the historical and current settlement patterns of the different waves of immigration to the country.

      After Canadian, the other most frequently reported origins in 2006, either alone or with other origins, were English, French, Scottish, Irish, German, Italian, Chinese, North American Indian and Ukrainian.

      The list of ethnic origins in 2006 includes cultural groups associated with Canada's Aboriginal people (North American Indian, Métis and Inuit) and the European groups that first settled in Canada, such as the English, French Scottish and Irish.  

    The largest group enumerated by the census consisted of just over 10 million people who reported Canadian as their ethnic ancestry, either alone (5.7 million) or with other origins (4.3 million).

      The other most frequently cited origins were English (6.6 million), French (4.9 million), Scottish (4.7 million), Irish (4.4 million), German (3.2 million), Italian (1.4 million), Chinese (1.3 million), North American Indian (1.3 million), Ukrainian (1.2 million) and Dutch (1.0 million).  
    (Text is taken from the Statistics Canada Web site)  

Our shared heritage hints at a genetic reason for MS. That may be part of it.  

Aside from sharing a similar geography in distance from the equator, we share a lack of sunshine year round strong enough to enable our bodies to produce vitamin D. Recent studies have implicated this vitamin in MS.

BBC Scotland was recently in Halifax filming interviews with people of Scottish heritage and who also have MS for a future story about the connections between Scotland, Nova Scotia and MS. As well, the MS Society in Scotland is starting to jump on the genetics bandwagon in developing a national database of people with MS, something Canada has been working on for several years.

A recent poll has shown that one out of two Canadians knows someone with MS.

How many do you know?

---- "The Moonshiner" by: "MARC GUNN - Irish Scottish Folk Songs" http://www.marcgunn.com/

Conclusion:

Actually, I thought about that last question.

Before I got it, I didn't know "anybody" with it.

After that, I didn't know, a lot, of people with it. (After a while, I had moved on, and knew nobody again.)

I have only met "one" other person in the states from the general population with MS.

Even at that, the New Jersey Chapter of the National MS Society's MS Self Help Group is kind of small.

We're, uh, a demographic "oddity".

---- "Eyes" by: "The Scottish Enlightenment" http://www.thescottishenlightenment.co.uk/

Outro