Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Saul, Alice
• Ponsonby, Anne-Louise
• Lucas, Robyn M
• Taylor, Bruce V
• Simpson, Steve
• Valery, Patricia
• Dwyer, Terence
• Kilpatrick, Trevor J
• Pender, Michael P
• van der Mei, Ingrid AF

Titel

Stressful life events and the risk of initial central nervous system demyelination

Ist Teil von

• Multiple sclerosis, 2017-06, Vol.23 (7), p.1000-1007

Ort / Verlag

London, England: SAGE Publications

Erscheinungsjahr

2017

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Background: There is substantial evidence that stress increases multiple sclerosis disease activity, but limited evidence on its association with the onset of multiple sclerosis. Objective: To examine the association between stressful life events and risk of first demyelinating event (FDE). Methods: This was a multicentre incident case–control study. Cases (n = 282 with first diagnosis of central nervous system (CNS) demyelination, including n = 216 with ‘classic FDE’) were aged 18–59 years. Controls without CNS demyelination (n = 558) were matched to cases on age, sex and study region. Stressful life events were assessed using a questionnaire based on the Social Readjustment Rating Scale. Results: Those who suffered from a serious illness in the previous 12 months were more likely to have an FDE (odds ratio (OR) = 2.35 (1.36, 4.06), p = 0.002), and when we limited our reference group to those who had no stressful life events, the magnitude of effect became stronger (OR = 5.41 (1.80, 16.28)). The total stress number and stress load were not convincingly associated with the risk of an FDE. Conclusion: Cases were more likely to report a serious illness in the previous 12 months, which could suggest that a non-specific illness provides an additional strain to an already predisposed immune system.