Immune disease and stress linked.

[peterb]

Posted on Fri, Mar. 07, 2003  

Immune disease and stress linked

NEW YORK - Vietnam veterans who suffer post-traumatic stress disorder are also more likely to have autoimmune diseases such as arthritis, psoriasis and hypothyroidism, a study has found.

The analysis of more than 4,000 Vietnam veterans is the first to show that such stress can damage the immune system enough to cause disease.

"When you are exposed to an extremely traumatic event it affects both your mind and your body," said Rachel Yehuda, director of the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder program at the Bronx Veterans Medical Center in New York. She was not connected with the study.

Joseph Boscarino, a senior scientist at the New York Academy of Medicine, will present his research Saturday at a meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society in Phoenix, Ariz.

[Val]

Very interesting reading Peter.

I've always thought the stroke I had in my 30's was the cause of most of my other problems, as all of them except the arthritis, came after that.