MS: Multiple Sclerosis - natural solutions

Have you or someone you know been diagnosed with MS? Do you want more support than common medical solutions?

Multiple Sclerosis is an autoimmune condition - what does that mean?

Autoimmune conditions are not considered "cureable" but we can still work to put the body into remission for long periods of time and give people with these conditions long and healthy lives. Instead of only relying on immune-suppressive drugs (sometimes essential during acute symptom flares), we can work to identify triggers of a condition to help reduce reactivity and progression of the disease in the body.

Multiple sclerosis is now known to be an autoimmune condition - meaning a trigger causes the body to attack itself. In the case of MS, the body attacks the protective myelin coating on nerves in the brain and central nervous system (CNS). With gaps in the myelin sheath, nerves don't work as fast of as smoothly when transmitting messages in the body. The impacts of MS can be various, leading to a variety of symptoms - with a diagnosis requiring symptoms related to lesions in more than one area of the CNS and thus occurring in different areas of the body, and occurring on more than one occasion - ie episodes of numbness or tingling, muscle weakness/balance problems or visual disturbances. More vague symptoms can include fatigue and memory/cognitive problems.

There are different ways in which Multiple Sclerosis progresses - typically defined as:

• "relapsing-remitting MS" (periodic flares of symptoms - RRMS) *most common

• "progressive MS" (persistent symptoms that slowly worsen)

  • primary (PPMS) or

  • secondary (SPMS) occurring after a period of RRMS

What are natural solutions in the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis?

Identify dietary triggers and remove them.

Something that all autoimmune conditions have in common is diet triggers. Foods are not the initial trigger of these conditions (usually a trigger for an autoimmune condition is an infection or other underlying causes of inflammation and then an immune over-reaction - often there's also a genetic component increasing susceptibility to having this reaction "turned on")

A diet trigger means that a food that may otherwise be healthy is pushing an inflammatory response in your body that is worsening the autoimmune reaction you are having. We can work to investigate what foods may be inflammatory in your case. There are obvious ones that affect all of us, and then ones that are unique to you. There are also well studied dietary approaches in MS - we will review and discuss a healthy diet protocol for MS based on a blend of the Terry Wahls diet and Swank diet.

Identify other environmental and lifestyle triggers and make adjustments.

Inflammation can come from more than just food. It can come from environmental toxins, cigarette smoke, obesity and viral infections - especially Epstein Barr-Virus known for causing mononucleosis and remaining dormant in the body after an initial infection. Inflammation also comes from chronic stress - and our immune systems can weaken after periods of intense stress or unremitting chronic stress. Think of your body's inflammation tolerance as a bucket that can be filled up by inputs - stress, inflammatory foods, more stress and sedentary habits leading to weight gain, environmental toxins coming from foods and air and even specific chemical exposures, more stress and then overload leading to a viral re-activation that tips the switch on the autoimmune reaction.

Identify deficiencies and correct them.

Nutritionally, you may be low in vitamin D, vitamin A, some of the B vitamins, omega3 fatty acids and antioxidants. These deficiencies can occur as a function of all the inflammatory inputs already noted, or can be due to deficiencies in our diet and environment that further weaken our immune function. We can do lab testing to investigate for this and help get you the support your immune system requires to stabilize.

Antioxidants in more detail: mitochondrial support is key to stabilizing MS.

Your mitochondria are little energy-producing organisms that live inside each of your cells of your body. Healthy mitochondria support healthy function of your cells and your body. In multiple sclerosis, the patterns of nerve degeneration and inflammation are both exacerbated by and a result of mitochondrial dysfunction. The loss of myelin coating on nerves increases the energy required to function and decreases the cell's ability to generate energy. Also, alterations to the mitochondrial DNA may concurrently occur due to various inflammatory inputs (oxidative stress) that further reduce energy production. Some of the above toxins also directly poison mitocondria (ie. cadmium - commonly found in cigarettes).

The good news is we can support your mitochondria - not only by all of the anti-inflammatory work related to diet, lifestyle and nutrients, but also by directly boosting them with targeted antioxidants.

Are you ready to get started with this approach to managing your MS?

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Arugula: an extraordinary vegetable! Eating more vegetables is a critical component to reducing inflammation.