BERLIN (Reuters Health) - Eating certain smoked sausages in childhood may increase the risk of developing the crippling autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis (MS) later in life, researchers said on Wednesday. The findings support other studies that have pointed to a possible link and suggest that nitrates used in meat preparation combined with chemicals in smoke could be causing autoimmune problems. In MS, the slow destruction of myelin--the thin, protective coating that insulates nerve fibers in the brain and spine--leads to numbness, muscle weakness and stiffness, impaired vision and coordination problems. Marcel Geilenkeuser, from the Darmstadt Clinic in Germany, and colleagues...