RESEARCH
STRESS AND MS
differently from those who had not developed MS. Although this sounds persuasive, Dr. Riise cautions that more research is needed to definitively exclude stress as an MS risk factor.
VITAMIN D IN AFRICANAMERICANS WITH MS
Stress may play a role in exacerbating MS flares, but does it cause the disease in the first place? A new study suggests that stress does not appear to increase the risk of developing MS. The study, published in Neurology, May 31, 2011, focused on two large groups, totaling almost a quarter million women, from the Nurses’ Health Study, which has followed a large number of female nurses for decades. The nurses were asked to report on general stress at home and at work, and also any physical or sexual abuse as children or teenagers. The investigators, led by Trond Riise, PhD, University of Bergen, Norway, compared the answers between those nurses who had developed MS and those who had not. They also took into account age, ethnicity, smoking habits and other variables that have been linked to an increased chance of developing MS. The researchers found that those who later developed MS had not responded significantly 8
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Research increasingly points to low levels of vitamin D in the blood as a risk for developing MS. A new study, [www.neurology.org/ content/76/21/1824] funded in part by the National MS Society, does show that AfricanAmericans with MS have lower levels of vitamin D than African-Americans who don’t have MS. Researchers Jeffrey Gelfand, MD, Ari J. Green, MD, and colleagues at University of California, San Francisco, found that of the group with MS, 77% were deficient in vitamin D, compared to 71% of those without MS. The study, based on examining 339 African-Americans with MS and 342 without the disease, found no link between vitamin D levels and how severe the disease was. African-Americans in general have an increased risk for low vitamin D levels, possibly because their skin has large amounts of melanin, which acts as a filter of ultraviolet light. This in turn limits how much vitamin D the body Continued on next page