Nothing surprising here, just more evidence that stress induces a worsening of MS symptoms. For those of you who are rallying around the latest evidence suggesting that MS is not an autoimmune disease, digging around what the well-known effects of stress on the human body and endocrine system may reveal a gold mine...

"Sources of stress like marital problems and trouble at work may worsen the symptoms of multiple sclerosis, a new study reports.

Writing in the online version of the British medical journal BMJ, researchers said that a review of 14 earlier studies had turned up a "consistent association" between stress and a new onset of symptoms...

Multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that attacks the central nervous system, is chronic, but the symptoms generally come and go for reasons that are not well understood. A review of the earlier studies, the BMJ report said, establishes that one reason appears to be stress. It called the association modest but significant."

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Full Article Text

M.S. and Trying Times
By ERIC NAGOURNEY

Published: March 30, 2004

Sources of stress like marital problems and trouble at work may worsen the symptoms of multiple sclerosis, a new study reports.

Writing in the online version of the British medical journal BMJ, researchers said that a review of 14 earlier studies had turned up a "consistent association" between stress and a new onset of symptoms.

Although this may come as little surprise to patients with M.S., many doctors have been reluctant to accept the idea, said the lead author of the study, Dr. David C. Mohr, a psychiatrist at the University of California at San Francisco, and a researcher at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

"There has been a fair amount of skepticism on the part of neurologists," Dr. Mohr said.

Multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that attacks the central nervous system, is chronic, but the symptoms generally come and go for reasons that are not well understood. A review of the earlier studies, the BMJ report said, establishes that one reason appears to be stress. It called the association modest but significant.

Although having a disease like M.S. can itself be a source of stress, the risk of a new attack appears to come from other life problems that are particularly stressful, Dr. Mohr said. For researchers, he said, the next step is to find out whether M.S. patients who use stress-reduction methods remain healthier.

Original article can be found here

The more enterprising amongst us might study what well-known effects stress has on the body (with particular attention to the endocrine system) and how that might have something to do with the apparent effectiveness of treatments like LDN which purportedly upregulate endorphins).