Stress Management May Prevent MS Brain Lesions 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 attended stress 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.

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

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