Stress Management May Prevent MS Brain Lesions – MedicineNet

                                                                  

Multiple Sclerosis Patients Had Fewer New Brain Lesions During Treatment

By Salynn Boyles
WebMD Health News

Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD

July 11, 2012 — Teaching MS patients how to deal with stress can improve their quality of life — and may also prevent or slow down formation of new brain lesions, according to a new study.

Patients with multiple sclerosis who attendedstress management therapy sessions for six months had fewer new brain lesions from disease flare-ups and slower disease progression during their treatment, Northwestern University researcher David C. Mohr, PhD, and colleagues found.

The findings, published in the July 11 issue of the journal Neurology, add to evidence that stress management can slow MS disease activity.

“People who got the stress management training had significant reductions in the incidence of new brain lesions while enrolled in the weekly sessions,” Mohr tells WebMD.

ut the improvement disappeared when the weekly sessions ended, suggesting that more sustained therapy may be needed, he says.

Mohr says stress management therapy may be a useful addition to MS drugs. He has spent more than a decade researching the impact of depression and stress on MS progression.

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