A new survey has revealed that people of Celtic ancestry have a far higher chance of suffering from MS. George Frew reports...

What's in a name?, asked Shakespeare dismissively. But then he could afford to be dismissive - he was English.

It appears that if, for instance, your name is Angus MacDougal, then you are genetically more predisposed to developing multiple sclerosis than if your moniker is something like Cecil Ponsonby-Smythe.

As if we Scots didn't have enough to put up with, a new Oxford medical survey has revealed that people of Celtic ancestry or those living over the border have a far higher chance of suffering from this terribly debilitating disease than our English counterparts.

And for once, the notorious Scottish diet cannot be blamed. Subsisting on wee drams, big fry-ups, Irn Bru, pints of heavy, greasy mutton pies, burgers, bags of sweeties, cream cakes, fags and chips with everything won't do your heart, teeth, weight, lungs or liver much good (although you'll have a lot of fun), but it doesn't appear to encourage the onslaught of MS. Instead, it's a genetic thing.

"Does diet play a part? Well, we can't say for definite, but no, probably not," revealed Dr Peter Rothwell of the Radcliffe Infirmary's Department of Clinical Neurology, the medics responsible for the survey. "The incidence of MS in south-east Scotland between 1992 and 1995 was the highest ever recorded and the prevalence was about double that reported in England and Wales and similar to that in Orkney and Shet- land. Scottish ancestry appears to be a 'risk factor' for the development of multiple sclerosis and this may explain the high prevalence of the disease in countries in which there are significant numbers of Scottish migrants", he added.

Oh, cheers, Doc. I've got an Irish mother descended from the High Kings of Ireland (allegedly) and a father whose ancestors fought alongside Bruce at Bannockburn. I'm a 100 per cent Celt, in other words, born and bred in the land of the midgie and the drainpipe trousers. In England, the chances of an English person developing MS are one in 1,000. In Scotland - or anywhere else for that matter - The Scots face odds of one in 400. "This has been blown up by the media," said Dr Rothwell reassuringly. "It's not the sort of thing to worry about. All we've shown is the prevalence of MS is two to three times higher in Scotland and the Scots are more predisposed to it.

"We looked at Scottish surnames and there, too, the figures are significantly higher. It's probably a measure of genetic susceptibility, a collection of genes."

There's enormous variation around the world - in the northern states of the US, there are far more cases than in the south. It's the same in New Zealand and Australia."

All places, you will note, with a high Scottish immigrant factor.

Multiple Sclerosis affects sufferers differently. Sometimes, it develops rapidly, in other cases it can take years.

For years, the medical profession has been wagging an admonishing finger at the Scots and warning us that, when we weren't smoking and drinking ourselves to death, we were digging our graves with our teeth.

Now, it has to be admitted that the joys of the widely perceived Scottish diet are many and varied, but like nearly everything that's enjoyable in this life, it cannot be good for you.

English comedians have even started cracking gags about the Scots eating lard straight out of the packet - to cut out the middle-man.

Heart disease, lung cancer, bad teeth leading to no teeth leading to dentures leading to death - the health message has sunk in and the Scots, long the sick men and women of Europe, are now as aware of the benefits of mineral water, fresh fruit, oily fish and pasta as any other race. But we cannot do anything about our genes, can we?

Except, maybe, console ourselves by ordering another pie and a pint.

Or a nice portion of chips and haggis - from MacSweens, of course. Good Scottish name, that.

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