Friday, March 29, 2024
News

Life pressures may lead to multiple sclerosis flares, disability: Study

   SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend    Print this Page   COMMENT

Washington | May 24, 2023 9:07:50 PM IST
A study headed by Michigan Medicine indicates that stresses across the lifespan, such as poverty, abuse, and divorce, are linked to deteriorating health and functional outcomes in patients with multiple sclerosis.

Using survey data from more than 700 people with MS, researchers discovered that stressful events occurring both in childhood and adulthood contributed significantly to participants' level of disability.

The results are published in Brain and Behavior.

"MS is the leading cause of non-traumatic disability among young adults, and additional research is needed to identify these external drivers of disability that can be addressed or prevented, including stress, to improve functional outcomes," said co-author Tiffany Braley, M.D., M.S., director of the Multiple Sclerosis/Neuroimmunology Division and Multidisciplinary MS Fatigue and Sleep Clinic at University of Michigan Health.

"This knowledge is needed to inform MS research as well as clinical care. Referrals to resources, such as mental health or substance use support could help reduce the impact of stress and enhance wellbeing," Braley said.

More than 2.8 million people in the world have MS, an autoimmune condition that affects the brain and spinal cord, in which the protective layer of nerve cells is attacked by the body's immune system. People with MS can experience unique, often painful, exacerbations of their symptoms known as a relapses, exacerbations or "flares".

Initially in the study, both childhood and adult stressors were significantly associated with worse burden caused by relapse after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the association between childhood stressors and disease burden lost significance when further accounting for experiences in adulthood.

Studies focused on stress and MS that don't account for the full lifespan, researchers say, could miss vital information or overestimate the relationship between childhood stressors and health outcomes.

"Adverse Childhood Experiences, which we call ACEs, and other childhood stressors could impact immune, inflammatory and behavioral processes throughout life, and reduce resilience to adult stress," said first author Carri Polick, Ph.D., R.N., who completed this work while at the U-M School of Nursing and is now a postdoctoral fellow in the National Clinician Scholars Program at Duke University.

"It is important to use a lifespan approach in future work to better understand patterns and inform symptom management. For example, we are expanding upon this work to investigate mechanistic pathways through sleep, smoking and mental health, through which stressors may lead to worse MS outcomes including increased disability, pain and fatigue." (ANI)

 
  LATEST COMMENTS (0)
POST YOUR COMMENT
Comments Not Available
 
POST YOUR COMMENT
 
 
TRENDING TOPICS
 
 
CITY NEWS
MORE CITIES
 
 
 
MORE HEALTH NEWS
Study finds how childhood sedentariness ...
Longer genes are associated with ageing...
Dr. Dangs Lab aims to revolutionise heal...
Researchers find ways to reduce side eff...
Study gives insight into role of specifi...
Collaborative study between bariatric, t...
More...
 
INDIA WORLD ASIA
'Who is real enemy of Congress, BJP or l...
Ten dead as taxi rolls down gorge on Jam...
ASI continues survey at Bhojshala Comple...
'We need to establish some Dos and don't...
PM Modi recalls 'profound sacrifice' of ...
'A closed chapter now...': BJP leader Di...
More...    
 
 Top Stories
PM Modi to interact with Tamil Nadu... 
FTAs and new markets will increase ... 
Time to Prepare for Summers with 5 ... 
Punjab: BSF seize packet of suspect... 
BJP's candidate Kangana Ranaut hold... 
GSF Trendsetters in Transboundary E... 
Sony India Launches Alpha 9 III, Wo... 
Aditya Patel's Winners Institute: A...