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Similar Time Trends of Hodgkin Lymphoma, Multiple Sclerosis, and Inflammatory Bowel Disease

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Abstract

Background

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) plays a role in the causation of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and multiple sclerosis (MS). A previous study showed that the time trends of mortality from Crohn’s disease (CD) and MS shared striking similarities. It was hypothesized that such similarities would also involve the time trends of ulcerative colitis and HL.

Aims

To compare the time trends of CD and UC with those of HL and MS in 6 different countries.

Methods

Using the vital statistics of England, Canada, Netherlands, Scotland, Switzerland, and United States from 1951 to 2020, the time trends of mortality from these 4 diseases were compared. The time-dependent changes of death rates were subjected to a birth-cohort analysis.

Results

Similar trends were observed in all 6 countries. UC mortality rose among generations born during the nineteenth century and decreased among all generations born subsequently during the twentieth century. CD mortality was similarly characterized by a birth-cohort pattern with a rise and fall that were shifted by 20–30 years towards more recent generations when compared to UC. The birth-cohort pattern of UC was matched by a similar pattern of HL, whereas the birth-cohort pattern of CD was matched by a similar pattern of MS.

Conclusions

The similarities in the ubiquitous birth-cohort patterns of UC, CD, HL, and MS suggest that these 4 diseases share a common environmental risk factor. Such risk factor may be linked to EBV or its acquisition during an early period of a patient’s lifetime.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Gastroenterology, Portland VA Medical Center, P3-GI, Portland, OR, 97239, USA

    Amnon Sonnenberg

  2. Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA

    Amnon Sonnenberg

Authors
  1. Amnon Sonnenberg
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Contributions

AS was the sole contributor to study conception, design, data analysis, and writing of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Amnon Sonnenberg.

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A Sonnenberg has no conflict of interest to declare. No funding was obtained for this study.

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Sonnenberg, A. Similar Time Trends of Hodgkin Lymphoma, Multiple Sclerosis, and Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Dig Dis Sci 68, 1455–1463 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-022-07705-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-022-07705-3

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