Stress Connected to Developing Serious Diseases

Ivanhoe's Medical Breakthroughs - Stress Connected to Developing Serious Diseases
Reported August 22, 2007

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- If you are stressed out, here is a good reason to stop and take a deep breath. New research connects chronic stress to an increased risk for developing neurodegenerative diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS).

Researchers from Texas A & M University in College Station used mice to show how stress can affect the immune system and have an influence on diseases like MS.

Previous studies have suggested a worsening of disease symptoms in MS patients during stressful times. Now, using mice, researchers report they may know why. The effect may be connected to cytokines -- proteins that regulate immune and inflammatory function. They basically prevent your body's immune system from continuing inflammation once it is finished fighting something like a virus.

For the study, researchers created a stressful environment by introducing an older, aggressive mouse to three younger male mice. The "intruder" exhibited aggressive behaviors, like fighting, to socially defeat the younger mice. This was repeated nightly to keep up the stress levels. The mice were then infected with a disease that affects the central nervous system.

The researchers report increases in a particular cytokine -- interleukin-6 (IL-6) -- can make the socially stressed mice vulnerable to MS-like illnesses. Study authors write human clinical trials are needed to fully understand this issue, and also write research suggests adverse health affects during stressful times could be prevented or reversed by treatments aimed at blocking increases in the cytokine IL-6.

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SOURCE: The 115th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association in San Francisco, Aug. 17 - Aug. 20, 2007

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