Stress not only affects a person’s mental health but also his physical health. A new study reveals that people suffering from chronic stress may develop neurodegenerative disease like multiple sclerosis.
Scientists stimulated stressful situations on a group of mice that were infected with Theiler’s murine encephalomyelitis, a disease similar to multiple sclerosis in humans and compared them with mice that were not exposed to stress but were suffering with similar disease.
It was found that the stressed mice produced a cytokine called interleukin-6 (IL-6), a pro-inflammatory cytokine secreted by T cells and macrophages to stimulate immune response to trauma, especially burns or other tissue damage leading to inflammation.. IL-6 increased the severity of the inflammation in the mice while the non stressed mice had lower levels of virus in the bloodstreams and less inflammation.
They also found that by injecting an antibody that neutralizes IL-6 before the stressful episode, stress related worsening of the disease could be prevented. By blocking the induction of IL-6, they found that the infection could be weakened considerably.
In humans, the scientists believe that by treating people who are vulnerable with treatments aimed at blocking increases in this cytokine, the inflammatory diseases can be prevented or reversed.
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