A number of previous publications have indicated a link between surviving stress and developing multiple sclerosis. The results of a recent study, published in the March issue of Neurology, confirmed the existence of such a link by showing that the risk of developing multiple sclerosis increases in parents who have experienced the death of a child.

The study was conducted between 1980 and 1997, on a group of more than 21,000 parents who had lost a child and a control group of nearly 300,000 people.