Suttercorporatewatch Health » Diseases Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple Sclerosis Health Tips

Sun, 27 Jun 2010 08:14:54 +0000

When the term Multiple Sclerosis is said we often as quick to think about a slow as debilitating degradation of a person into a state that they are not able to live on their own. The truth is that this does not always have to be the case. There are things that a person can do to make their existence better and slow the rate of bodily control loss that they experience. With these tips you can easily extend the time that you can enjoy a high quality of living, even with MS.

You Can Live a Quality Life even with Multiple Sclerosis
One of the first things that you need to do is to assess your lifestyle and see what is not working for the improvement your overall level of health. Once you have this information you need to take action steps to change these things and get yourself to a fitness level that will help you to fight off the ravishing effects of MS. Some of those factors are, eating healthier, lowering stress levels and increasing mental health. IF you are a smoker stop and if have high blood pressure or diabetes get those condition sunder control. The healthier your body is the better equipped you are to fight this disease.

Include Natural Herbs in Your Diet
One thing that has been shown to help with controlling the effects of multiple sclerosis is natural herbs. Herbs that are beneficial to the support of the brain and the central nervous system have been shown to reduce the severity of MS symptoms and to slow the onslaught of the disease. Three of the most popular rare yerba mate, valerian root, and gotu kola.

Take Control of Your Diet
One of the best ways to help improve your overall health and slow the progress of MS is to get your diet under control. This is not to say that the occasional cheeseburger is going to hurt you, infect there is something to be said for the benefits of pleasurable indulgences such as this, but you need to get in the right frame of healthy eating habits and stay there as much as possible. A healthy body begins with a healthy diet and a healthy body is what you need to fight this disease.

Soak Up the Sun
The light of the sun is one of the best sources that our bodies have for vitamin D. D is one of the most important vitamins for a healthy overall body. The good news is that Vitamin D is also known to have a very positive effect on your battle with MS. Be careful not to get a burn but make sure that every single day you are able to get out unclothed and without sunscreen for about 20 minutes in bright sunlight. This will not only have a positive effect on your body but also the cool breeze and warm sunshine on bare skin will have a very beneficial effect on the mind.

Keep Yourself Active
This is vital; MS ravishes your Muscular and nervous systems. You can fight it by keep them as strong as possible. This means that you will want to stay active and vibrant as much as you can. Do not help the disease along, make it as difficult as you can for it to do is damage.

Reduce your Consumption and Interaction with Heavy Metals
Although we do not fully understand why, there is a definite correlation between contact and consumption of heavy metals with the development of MS. These heavy metals can be found in your water, beauty products medicines and food. Make it a point to begin paying attention to what you are consuming to reduce the impact of heavy metals in your life.

Keep yourself Positive
This is a key step. The body is very much in tune with the mind. If you have a positive mental outlook on your life then you will see that your health is better because of it. Make it a point to keep yourself in a good state of mind and it will make dealing with your condition easier in the long run.
So as you can see you do not have to consider MS to be a death sentence that will leave you without the ability to live a productive and meaningful life on your own. You can overcome the challenges and difficulties that are associated to MS and continue to live a comfortable existence with the condition.

Dealing With Disease – Multiple Sclerosis Health Tips

Sat, 22 May 2010 02:42:08 +0000

Understanding Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinsons Disease

Wed, 07 Apr 2010 02:42:23 +0000

Children and adults with debilitating diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson’s and Lou Gehrig’s disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS) undergo a gradual reduction in their body’s ability to perform voluntary muscular functions. They are slow diseases without cures. Today’s treatment generally consists of medications and techniques to slow down the symptoms of the disease and the degeneration of the body. Scientists are not quite sure what causes these diseases; though there are cases that show that a small number of sufferers may inherit them.

Multiple sclerosis is a disease that causes the immune system of your body to consume the protective covering over your nerves. This leads to irreversible nerve damage. The degree and impact of the disease relies on which nerves are affected. The disease can develop at any age, but generally strikes those between 20 and 40 and women over men. Though the effects are fleeting in the beginning, those with MS will experience a gradual deterioration. A positive attitude is just as important to the treatment of the disease as any medical therapies.

A shortage of dopamine in the brain is the cause of Parkinson’s disease. This chemical acts as a messenger, so low dopamine levels mean that signals in the brain are not getting through. Parkinson’s typically shows up mid to late in life as a tremor in one hand. Men are affected more often than women are. Gradually, it affects speech and movement, causes muscle rigidity and can even impair memory and involuntary movements such as blinking. It is thought that ongoing exposure to pesticides and herbicides may increase the risk of Parkinson’s.

While those with MS or Parkinson’s can live a long life with the disease, those with Lou Gehrig’s disease do not. ALS causes the nerve cells in your muscles to die over time. Symptoms begin with slurred speech or a twitching of the hand or foot. Eventually ALS patients lose all muscle function, including the ability to chew, swallow, speak or breathe. Most ALS patients will eventually require the use of feeding tubes and breathing apparatus to sustain life. ALS also significantly increases the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s. Many people who develop ALS die within three to five years after contracting the disease due to respiratory failure. It typically strikes people between the ages of 40 to 60, and more men than women are affected.

These diseases are often hard to detect and are not discovered until the definitive onset of symptoms. Since there are no specific tests available and the early symptoms are generally mild and are shared by many other ailments, diagnosis is a long and stressful process. Maintaining a positive, healthy attitude during diagnosis and treatment, as well as trying to retain as normal a life as possible is vital. Drug therapy, combined with movement therapy and traditional physical therapy help to drastically improve the quality of life for these patients. The use of aids such as walking aids and motorized chairs can prolong the period of independence and functionality as well, allowing patients to experience greater satisfaction with their lives.

Multiple Sclerosis – What to Expect and is There a Cure?

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:42:36 +0000

Multiple sclerosis is not an uncommon disease. Although genetic makeup has a hand in causing it, geographical location and environmental conditions may affect the onset of the disease as well. Studies show that more Caucasians are suffering from the said disease and the risk of having it is higher for those that are living in the North of the equator. The disease affects the central nervous system and results to loss of insulation around the nerves. It can affect various areas of the body and worse, may lead to paralysis.

The disease is not fatal in itself, but complications may be life threatening. The disease causes immobility and can lead to unfortunate accidents. About 2.5 million people all over the world suffer from this disease, and this includes young people, with more women being affected.

The effects of the disease are both physical and mental. Minor attacks may lead to visual impairment or lack of mobility for the limbs. There are reported cases wherein someone who incurred an attack was able to recover and continually improve. However, this does not mean that the disease will not recur. Sometimes, there can be a second attack which is worse than the first one, and the second attack can lead to rapid deterioration and may lead to complete paralysis. During this stage, the ability of the patient to recover or respond to medication is highly reduced.

The part of the central nervous system that is affected may vary, thus, the symptoms and the areas affected may vary as well. One patient can suffer from loss of vision while another patient may suffer from limb paralysis of chronic fatigue. However, studies show that 50% of the people who have Multiple Sclerosis suffer from impaired memory. Another 10% shows signs of mental imbalance. Both symptoms greatly affect the person’s ability to perform daily tasks.

As of this time, there is no known cure for the disease. Patients who seek professional help must understand that medication can only help in slowing the deterioration process. Those that are affected by the disease must concentrate on how to make life a little easier and to prevent additional complications.

Most medications available nowadays only slows down the symptoms and some even have side effects that may worsen the patient’s condition. Recently, however, a new drug was discovered for Multiple Sclerosis. Its effectiveness to cure the disease is yet to be established. However, there are many claims about the ability of the drug to actually cure the disease. The drug is also known to not have any side effects or risks to the patient.

Multiple Sclerosis is a disease that no one would like to have. However, since there are no known ways to prevent the disease especially if you are at risk of it genetically and geographically, we can only hope that soon, a cure for this cruel disease will be discovered. One can just hope that in time, there will be a way to put a stop to the damage that this disease can cause to the lives of the people affected, as well as to the lives of their families and friends.

Could Early Symptoms of MS Be Stratified to Give Better Targeted Multiple Sclerosis Treatments? Introduction

Sat, 09 Jan 2010 03:42:47 +0000

Multiple sclerosis presents in various ways and subsequently shows variable disease courses. If we knew early on what the disease course for Multiple Sclerosis would be then we could better target the medication in each individual case. To date it has been unpredictable right from disease onset but, knowing the disease course is of crucial importance in guiding treatment.

Now “The Department of Neurosciences” at Cardiff University has recently been looking into factor H as a biomarker for multiple sclerosis and the findings are promising.

Effective and accessible biomarkers are needed in order to stratify (separate into groups) patients and inform treatment. The team at Cardiff University decided to look into factor H as such a marker. Regulator factor H, has recently been implicated as a biomarker in other chronic inflammatory central nervous system conditions. Could it identify or predict specific pathological processes and outcomes in multiple sclerosis?

Method

They measured factor H in blood serum from 350 patients with multiple sclerosis classified according to disease course and relapse status. Controls were found for variables including disease duration, age, gender, disability and treatment. I have decided not to go into the full method in this document as the details will be somewhat turgid to the average reader. However, the findings are fairly clear and very encouraging.

Results

1) Factor H levels were significantly higher in progressive disease compared to controls and relapsing patients. Thus factor H levels were capable of distinguishing secondary progressive from relapsing remitting disease (excluding patients in clinical relapse)

2) Acute relapse was also associated with temporarily increased factor H levels compared to stable relapsing disease.

3) In clinically stable patients, factor H levels remained constant over 1 year but in patients in transition from relapsing to progressive disease, factor H levels significantly increased over a period of 2 years. This is a crucial point as the transition between relapsing and progressive signals the need for therapy change.

Conclusion

Serum factor H could be an effective indicator of progression and a practical and accessible tool to split patients into groups and to predict disease course, Once we have this information we have objective evidence which can help guide therapeutic decisions. As we have known for some time, the earlier you can pick up a disease pattern the better chance of success you have with the treatment.