Study supports stress-relapse link

Stressful life events have been associated with MS relapses in past research studies, but the findings haven't been unanimous. A new study adds to the evidence that there is a connection between stress and relapses, at least in women.

In this study, researchers followed 26 women with relapsing-remitting MS for a little over a year on average. The women recorded stressful life events (SLEs) in diaries, classifying them as having a long term impact (at least 10-14 days) or not. They also determined how severe each SLE was. When this information was combined with relapse records, the researchers found that having three or more SLEs in four weeks resulted in a 5-fold increase in relapse rate, and having one long-term SLE increased the risk of relapse during the following month by three times. Relapse risk was not affected by severity or type of stressful event.

So if you have MS and are able to reduce the number of stressful events in your life, you may experience fewer relapses (while also reducing the other harmful effects of stress).