From WSJ
Exercise, Diet and Sleep Can Improve MS Symptoms
Researchers Find Lifestyle Changes Can Help People With Multiple Sclerosis
By LAURA LANDRO
Updated Oct. 13, 2014
Exercise, sleep and a low-salt diet may be part of the solution for multiple sclerosis patients.
Researchers are increasingly looking to lifestyle, diet and exercise, including salsa dancing, to help mitigate the often-debilitating effects of MS, which include problems with muscle control, balance, vision and thinking.
A diagnosis of MS can lead to depression and fear of stigma because the disease has the potential to progress to permanent disability. As many as 500,000 people in the U.S. and a total of more than 2.3 million world-wide are affected by the disease, according to the nonprofit National Multiple Sclerosis Society. It usually strikes in people’s prime, between the age of 20 and 50, and more than two times as many women develop MS, a gender difference that has been increasing over the past 50 years.
In the past people with MS were advised against exercise because it appeared to worsen their fatigue and other symptoms, but new studies have shown the negative effects are temporary and outweighed by benefits such as counteracting depression and improving cognition.
And contrary to perception, MS isn’t always a steady degenerative downward spiral. Though there is no cure, about 85% of cases are known as “relapsing-remitting,” which means attacks with acute symptoms are followed by recoveries that can last for long periods of time.
According to the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation, the prevalence of MS globally increased from 2.1 million to 2.3 million between 2008 and 2013. There is no evidence that incidence is rising, but because of better diagnosis capabilities people are being recognized as having MS earlier.
Read more from WSJ >>
Exercise, Diet and Sleep Can Improve MS Symptoms
Researchers Find Lifestyle Changes Can Help People With Multiple Sclerosis
By LAURA LANDRO
Updated Oct. 13, 2014
Exercise, sleep and a low-salt diet may be part of the solution for multiple sclerosis patients.
Researchers are increasingly looking to lifestyle, diet and exercise, including salsa dancing, to help mitigate the often-debilitating effects of MS, which include problems with muscle control, balance, vision and thinking.
A diagnosis of MS can lead to depression and fear of stigma because the disease has the potential to progress to permanent disability. As many as 500,000 people in the U.S. and a total of more than 2.3 million world-wide are affected by the disease, according to the nonprofit National Multiple Sclerosis Society. It usually strikes in people’s prime, between the age of 20 and 50, and more than two times as many women develop MS, a gender difference that has been increasing over the past 50 years.
In the past people with MS were advised against exercise because it appeared to worsen their fatigue and other symptoms, but new studies have shown the negative effects are temporary and outweighed by benefits such as counteracting depression and improving cognition.
And contrary to perception, MS isn’t always a steady degenerative downward spiral. Though there is no cure, about 85% of cases are known as “relapsing-remitting,” which means attacks with acute symptoms are followed by recoveries that can last for long periods of time.
According to the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation, the prevalence of MS globally increased from 2.1 million to 2.3 million between 2008 and 2013. There is no evidence that incidence is rising, but because of better diagnosis capabilities people are being recognized as having MS earlier.
Read more from WSJ >>
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