Monday, August 27, 2007

I was hit from behind in a car accident when I was stopped on the freeway in May 2006. I received treatments and felt better. It is now one year later, and I am still having (back/spine) pain and stiffness and increased exacerbations. I was told that trauma does not cause exacerbations. I was also stressed because of the whole situation and have been walking with a cane regularly. What role does trauma (specifically mine) play in multiple sclerosis?

Researchers have looked at the association between trauma and multiple sclerosis extensively over the years, both from a medical point of view and a legal point of view. There have been multiple lawsuits regarding trauma precipitating MS or trauma aggravating multiple sclerosis by triggering relapses in patients who already had the disease. A recent evaluation by the Mayo Clinic found no association between trauma and the development of either new multiple sclerosis or the exacerbation of relapses in pre-existing multiple sclerosis.

However, there are still well-known neurologists in this country who feel that trauma may have an effect on the “blood-brain barrier,” and that trauma increases the risk of inflammatory cells entering the central nervous system. But, from a scientific basis, it does appear that the question has been answered: There is no association between trauma, such as car accidents, and the new or worsened MS.