Yeah, that's not exactly what I meant. I clearly stated that stress may *contribute* to disease. My point was that it is not the ONLY factor.

Joan, probably not meaning to imply this, said that stress "converts to RSD." That's just not true. Stress may (in some or maybe even most cases) contribute to the incitement of RSD, but I don't think anybody will argue that a person under stress will just suddenly one day get RSD.

When I write these posts, I write exactly what I mean, and I attempt to qualify each statement I make. I was unaware of this study, and perhaps this will teach me to be a bit more cautious in the future. However, the gist of what I said still stands: stress is sometimes (not necessarily always) one of many factors that must be taken into account when determining the causes of RSD.

And, as I said, I'd like to meet a person who has no chronic stress in his or her life. In 25 years, I've never met any. Stress is too general a term to be used in such complex discussions of pathophysiology.