Espen Benjaminsen

Avhandlingen er tilgjengelig her! / The doctoral thesis is available here!


Auditoriet er åpent for publikum, men disputasen vil i tillegg bli strømmet. Opptaket av disputasen vil være tilgjengelig i et døgn.
The auditorium is open to the public. The defense will still be streamed. A recording of the disputation will be available for 24 hours.


Prøveforelesning over oppgitt emne starter kl. 10.15 / The trial lecture starts at 10.15
Tittel/Title: "COVID-19 and MS".
Prøveforelesningen strømmes her / The trial lecture will be streamed here

Disputasen starter kl. 12.15 / The defense starts at 12.15
Disputasen strømmes her / The defense will be streamed here


Populærvitenskapelig sammendrag av avhandlingen/ Summary of the thesis
“This thesis describes the occurrence of multiple sclerosis (MS) and comorbid conditions in Nordland from 1970 to 2017. The data were used to validate the diagnosis of MS in the National Patient Registry (NPR).

Throughout the study period, we observe a 10-fold increase in the incidence of MS, and a near 20-fold increase in the prevalence of MS. In 2017, the prevalence in Nordland was 271 per 100 000.
The number of MS patients reported in the NPR corresponds well to the real number in the Nordland population.

In general, the occurrence of MS increases with increasing latitude, but such a gradient has previously been found opposite in Norway.  This thesis discards this «Scandinavian paradox».
The occurrence of epilepsy and inflammatory bowel disease is confirmed increased in MS, and the prevalence of non-melanoma skin cancers was also found significantly higher than in the Norwegian general population”.


Veiledere/ Supervisors
Hovedveileder/Main supervisor:
Professor Karl Bjørnar Alstadhaug, Institutt for klinisk medisin, Det helsevitenskapelige fakultet, UiT Norges arktiske universitet.
Biveileder/supervisor:
Professor Kjell- Morten Myhr, Institutt for klinisk medisin, Det helsevitenskapelige fakultet, UiT Norges arktiske universitet.

Bedømmelseskomité/Defense committee
Førsteamanuensis Melinda Magyari, Danish Multiple Sclerosis Center, Department of Neurology, The Danish Multiple Sclerosis Registry, Copenhagen University Hospital – 1. opponent.
Professor Jelena Drulovic, University Clinical Center of Serbia, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Serbia – 2. opponent.
Overlege og førsteamanuensis Kjell Arne Arntzen, UNN og Det helsevitenskapelige fakultet, UiT Norges arktiske universitet – leder av komité.

Disputasleder/ Leader of defense
Professor og instituttleder Vinjar Fønnebø, Institutt for klinisk medisin, Det helsevitenskapelige fakultet, UiT Norges arktiske universitet.