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Posted: **Fri Jun 29, 2007 9:37 am**

Trauma Violence Abuse. 2007 Jul;8(3):314-30.

Social conflict exacerbates an animal model of multiple sclerosis.

Meagher MW, Johnson RR, Vichaya EG, Young EE, Lunt S, Welsh CJ.
Texas A&M University, Department of Psychology.

A growing body of evidence suggests that social conflict is associated with inflammatory disease onset and exacerbations in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and in animal models of MS. This review illustrates how animal research can be used to elucidate the biobehavioral mechanisms underlying the adverse health effects of social conflict. The authors review studies indicating that social conflict exacerbates a virally initiated animal model of MS. This research suggests that the deleterious effects of social conflict may be partially mediated by stress-induced increases in pro-inflammatory cytokine levels in the central nervous system. In addition, they provide evidence that the adverse health effects of social conflict can be prevented by blocking the stress-induced increases in cytokine activity. This suggests that interventions designed to prevent or reverse the stress-induced increases in cytokine activity may be able to prevent or reverse some of the negative health effects of social conflict in humans.

Linky

Posted: **Fri Jun 29, 2007 10:36 am**

Hi Thomas,
This is a really interesting find which gives serious support to the many people who suspect that stress has been the trigger for their MS; either the initial cause or to bring on an exacerbation.
I read the words, "social conflict", as simply, "stress", and as far as I know laboratory animals don't have major relationship issues, mortgage concerns or imminent redundancy, so it looks as if this experiment provides objective evidence that stress does have a direct physical effect.

Posted: **Fri Jun 29, 2007 12:51 pm**

Simply amazing. There are so many things to keep track of... Very facinating article though. I wonder if the reason why stress triggers attacks is due to a weakened immune system caused by the stress?

Brock

Posted: **Fri Jun 29, 2007 1:53 pm**

I don't know if you guys have seen this one but it's interesting and sensible.

It's interesting how much of a learning experience life is. In 2000 when my sister experienced problems due to and was diagnosed with Grave's disease, we were all convinced that the stress caused by having the family Christmas at her house, young kids and the possibility that her husband might be getting laid off "caused" it.

In hindsight it seems obvious that her self reactive T cells probably had been gnawing away at her thyroid for some time and the stress was just the straw that broke the camel's back....but I would argue to the death that stress does play a part.
Bob

1: J Neurol. 2007 May;254 Suppl 2:II65-II68.Links
Stress and multiple sclerosis.
Mohr DC.

Dept. of Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, 680 N. Lakeshore Drive, Suite 1220, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA, d-mohr@northwestern.edu.

Increasing numbers of studies are reporting an association between stressful life events and exacerbation in multiple sclerosis. We review findings that begin to suggest psychological, social and biological factors that may be involved in this relationship. Depression, negative attributions, poor coping, and low social support have been implicated as aggravating the relationship between stress and exacerbation. A model of glucocorticoid resistance on immune cells is also presented as one potential biological mechanism. It is emphasized that to date there is no evidence of causal relationships. It is argued that a purely causal relationship, in which stressful events alone trigger exacerbation, is unlikely. Rather, we propose that stress may be one factor among many that influence risk of exacerbation.

PMID: 17503132 [PubMed - in process]

Posted: **Fri Jun 29, 2007 4:27 pm**

I own my own business so tax time is always stressful for me. My first major attack that led to my dx was on April 15 2004. I was up the whole night trying to get my tax info. together. My wife stated that she had never seen me so stressed. I said half jokingly that if I didn't get some relief I was going to "stroke out". The next morning I had my attack which was originally dx as a TIA. Three weeks later as MS.
Terry.

This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

Social conflict exacerbates an animal model of MS

Social conflict exacerbates an animal model of MS