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Stress matters to brain's white matter

Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2014 1:56 pm
by ThisIsMA
Here is an interesting article in the LA Times that doesn't actually mention MS, let alone CCSVI, but it does mention cortisone, myelin, brain white matter, and oligodendrocytes:

http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencen ... z2t8CwkPUg

Basically the article seems to be saying (toward the end of the article) that stress and cortisone both trigger stem cells in the brain to become new myelin instead of new neurons.
The cell re-programs changes its fate, from wanting to become a neuron to wanting to become an oligodendrocyte
I wonder if that's why IV cortisone during MS flareups helps? It also made me think maybe stress has its upside!

I have to admit I don't know how this connects to CCSVI if it does, or even if I'm interpereting the article correctly, but I thought it might be a clue to MS that some of the smart people on this board would be interested in.

I often feel like the information needed to unlock the mystery of MS is out there, its just that no one person has access to enough of the puzzle pieces to make sense of it! And of course there may be some puzzle pieces still missing.

Mary Ann

Re: Stress matters to brain's white matter

Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2014 2:14 pm
by Cece
I would think we need new neurons and we need new myelin. Which one is more needed, I don't know?

Re: Stress matters to brain's white matter

Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2014 2:20 pm
by cheerleader
Hi Mary Ann--
it's interesting research, isn't it?
Seems like ongoing stress, like post-traumatic stress syndrome, is bad for the brain---but little, energizing bursts, like dealing with a busy day, might be good. We're not designed to live under a state of chronic stress--it's hard on the brain.

UCLA has been doing ongoing research on what happens to the hippocampus in people with MS. They find that stress affects the HPA axis-- here's what I wrote about it in 2010. It's most certainly related to hypoxic injury, CCSVI and depression---
There's an article and podcast in Scientific American this week regarding a new study completed at UCLA. It looks at physical brain changes in pwMS who have depression. The researchers found on MRI that the hippocampus is smaller in pwMS, and that the HPA axis (the neuroendocrine system which regulates stress and other functions) is hyperactive.
http://ccsviinms.blogspot.com/search?q=UCLA+stress

the answers are there, and we're getting closer!
cheer