Multiple Sclerosis
Overview
Multiple sclerosis, or MS, is an autoimmune disease that progressively impairs the central nervous system. The body`s immune system attacks the protective insulation of nerve fibers, known as myelin, causing a buildup of plaques and the eventual scarring and hardening of multiple nerve fibers. This process is known as sclerosis, hence the name of the disease. Once nerve pathways become damaged, nerve impulses direct muscle movement to slow down or to stop altogether.
MS usually strikes between the ages of 15 to 60, with most cases occurring between 20 and 40 years of age. It affects women twice as often as men, and is most prevalent in the northern United States, Canada, and upper Europe, where the climate tends to be temperate. Overall, an estimated 350,000 Americans suffer from MS, which is considered to be incurable by conventional physicians, who also have little understanding about its causes.
Symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis
As the buildup of plaque scars or strips the myelin sheath away from nerve fibers, nerve transmission becomes impaired, and the symptoms of MS begin to appear. They include loss of muscle control, problems with balance and gait, blurry or double vision, chronic pain, chronic fatigue, heightened sensitivity to heat and cold (especially heat, which can worsen other symptoms), and painful tingling sensations in the hands and/or feet. In advanced cases, patients can experience difficulty speaking, spastic movements, and weakness in the arms, hands, legs, and/or feet. Full or partial paralysis can also occur, and severe fatigue can make normal activities extremely difficult to carry out. Urinary incontinence or a frequent need to urinate can develop. In some cases, MS patients need to use a wheelchair; although in many cases, patients are able to continue living and working as before, but with increasing degrees of difficulty. A rarer symptom of MS is alexia, a sudden inability to understand written language.
MS tends to go into remission and then flare up again, intensifying and worsening with each episode. In some cases the progression of MS is swift, leading to serious degeneration within a few months or years, whereas others may experience less severe attacks that can occur on and off over many decades. No two cases of MS are exactly alike, making effective treatment extremely difficult. For this reason, it is essential that proper individualized treatment begin as early as possible following the initial appearance of MS symptoms.
Causes of Multiple Sclerosis
Although conventional medicine claims that multiple sclerosis is caused by demyelination (the breakdown of the myelin sheath caused by the buildup of plaques), holistic health practitioners maintain that there are many other potential causes, as well. This view is strengthened by the fact that major symptoms of MS can be present even when there is little myelin damage; and, in some cases, major dymelination only produces minor symptoms. What follows is an overview of the other most common potential causes of MS.
Candidiasis: Candidiasis, also known as candida, is caused by systemic overgrowth of a type of yeast, Candidiasis albicans, beyond its normal location in the lower intestinal tract. Left unchecked, candidiasis can greatly exacerbate MS symptoms, as was first documented by William G. Crook, M.D., author of The Yeast Connection. According to Dr. Crook, cases of MS in which candidiasis is a factor can be greatly improved once the spread of Candida albicans is halted and then reversed.
Dental Amalgam Fillings: Dental amalgam fillings contain mercury, a highly toxic substance that can be leeched out from fillings in the form of mercury vapors that settle in the body`s tissues and organs. Over time, as mercury continues to accumulate in the body, a host of serious health problems can occur, including MS or symptoms that are virtually indistinguishable from it. People with MS have been shown to have mercury levels in their cerebrospinal fluid that are much as 700 percent greater than healthy people.
The health problems mercury causes are due to its ability to attach itself to the DNA in the body`s cells and cell membranes, distorting them and impairing their ability to properly function. As this cellular distortion occurs, the body`s immune system acts as if the affected cells are foreign invaders and begins attacking them. In the process, myelin can be destroyed. In addition, the mercury vapors can interfere with the body`s enzyme functions and cause the chronic fatigue that is often a symptom of MS. According to Hal Huggins, DDS, a leader in the field of biological (holistic) dentistry, and a renowned expert in mercury toxicity, many cases of MS have been completely reversed once mercury amalgams are properly replaced and the body is detoxified.
Poor Diet: Since 1950, when Roy Swank, MD, of Oregon Health Sciences University, first discovered that MS patients had higher than normal concentrations of saturated fat intake from the foods they ate, holistic health practitioners have pointed to poor diet as a major potential contributing factor for multiple sclerosis. This is particularly so among people who eat a standard Western diet high in dairy products, meats, and commercially processed foods that contain high amounts of unhealthy, saturated fats, but are low in unsaturated fats containing essential fatty acids (EFAs). EFAs are vital for the optimum health of both the brain and the nervous system, and are found in fresh fruits and vegetables, oily fish, and olive and seed oils, all of which are often lacking in the diets of MS patients. The lack of such foods and the EFAs they contain can set the stage for demyelination.
Electromagnetic Fields: Electromagnetic fields (EMFs) are generated when electric currents flow through wire coils. This type of low-level radiation can cause a variety of health problems because of how EMFs can negatively impact the body`s bioenergetic balance and damage enzymes that regulate growth. EMFs can also negatively affect the body`s pineal gland, as well as upset the balance and production of the hormones melatonin and serotonin, both of which are essential for optimum brain and nerve function. Research has shown that MS patients usually exhibit lower than normal levels of both these hormones, as well as calcification of the pineal gland. In addition, EMFs can interfere with the how the body's cells divide and multiply.
You are exposed to EMFs every time you use an appliance that runs on electricity. These include computers, fluorescent lights, microwave ovens, televisions, and video terminals. Cell phones, electrical poles, and many types of motors that can also create unhealthy EMF exposure.
Environmental Toxins: Environmental toxins can cause or exacerbate MS in a variety of ways, including impairing and interrupting the body's metabolic processes. In addition, environmental toxins can act directly to damage the myelin covering that protects nerve fibers. They can also distort cells and cell membranes, triggering an autoimmune response that can cause nerve damage and MS symptoms. Among the offending toxins are chemicals found in commercially processed foods, toxins contained in tap water, carbon monoxide, diesel exhaust, fumes and vapors released from gas water heaters, commercial solvents, aerosol sprays, and chemicals contained in the chipboard and foam used to make furniture and carpets.
Food Allergies and Sensitivities: People with multiple sclerosis often suffer from food allergies or sensitivities, which can greatly exacerbate their MS symptoms. The most common foods that trigger food allergies and sensitivities include coffee and caffeine products, corn, dairy products, food additives and preservatives, fungi such as mushrooms, gluten (a food ingredient in barley, oats, rye, spelt, and wheat), ketchup, milk, sugar, vinegar, wheat, and wine. However, any food can potentially act as an allergy trigger.
Genetic Predisposition: MS is not considered a hereditary disease. Even so, the disease does appear to be related to genetic predisposition. First generation descendents or relatives of people with MS have a 30 to 50 greater risk of developing the disease than people born into families where there is no history of multiple sclerosis. If your relatives have MS, you should be screened as early as possible.
Infections: Infection can greatly exacerbate MS symptoms, and may also play a role in causing it. Researchers, for example, have found that viral infections such as the Epstein Barr Virus, not only reduce the level of essential fatty acids in the brain to levels commonly found in MS patients, but infections can also interfere with the body`s ability to properly utilize essential fatty acids, weakening the immune system and possibly triggering autoimmune reactions that can result in demyelination. Based on such findings, holistic health practitioners warn that people who suffered from viral infections, especially Epstein Barr Virus or mononucleosis (which can be trigged by Epstein Barr) in childhood or adolescence, may be more susceptible to developing MS later on in life.
Other infectious agents known as stealth pathogens may also play a role in the development of MS, as well as exacerbate its symptoms. Stealth pathogens are types of bacteria with cell walls that lack proper structure, giving them the ability to easily transport DNA between the cells of the human body. Stealth pathogens can also fuse together. Both of these outcomes can trigger immune responses that can cause a variety of autoimmune diseases, including MS.
Another type of bacteria that can cause or contribute to MS is Borrelia mylophora. If this bacteria gains a foothold in the body, it can infiltrate the nervous system. In white blood cells` fervent effort to eliminate Borrelia mylophora, the immune system can also destroy surrounding myelin, causing MS. Borrelia mylophora is very similar to Borrelia burgdorferi, one of the causes of Lyme disease, and some researchers speculate that Lyme disease itself is also a cause of MS because of its similar affects on the body's immune and nervous systems. For more information about the link between MS and Lyme disease, see Could Lyme Disease Become MS? and Researcher Reveals Possible Connection with Lyme and MS.
"Leaky Gut" Syndrome: "leaky gut" syndrome is caused by food allergies and/or candidiasis causing a breach in the intestinal wall, allowing toxins to flood into the bloodstream. As this happens, the immune system attempts to correct the problem by launching an attack on these invaders. In the commotion, however, immune cells and antibodies may also attack healthy cells, including those that comprise myelin. The stress placed on the body by "leaky gut" syndrome can exacerbate the symptoms of people who already have MS, and also make people with MS more susceptible to additional pathogens, such as bacteria, viruses, and unhealthy yeasts.
Nutritional Deficiencies: Even when MS patients follow a healthy, balanced diet, they can often be deficient in vital nutrients because they have difficulty assimilating them. The most common nutrient deficiencies in MS patients are vitamin B1, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, biotin, folic acid, magnesium, manganese, selenium, and zinc, along with various amino acids and essential fatty acids.
According to the late Hans Neiper, MS, a pioneering researcher and holistic physician in Germany, lack of calcium AEP, also known as colamine phosphate, can significantly increase the risk of MS. Calcium AEP is required for the body to produce the electrical charges on the myelin surface and on nerve cell membranes that are necessary for proper function of the central nervous system. Lack of calcium AEP not only interferes with the production of these electrical charges, Dr. Nieper maintained, but it also causes cells membranes to become too porous, allowing toxins and immune cells passage into the body`s nerve cells, creating an autoimmune reaction and the destruction of myelin.
Stress and Trauma: Many cases of MS are often initially triggered by prolonged emotional stress or physical trauma. Moreover, the initial symptoms of MS will often first manifest at the part of the body that suffered an injury.
Natural Cures
While conventional physicians consider multiple sclerosis to be incurable, holistic physicians are often able to slow and reverse its progression. Early diagnosis, followed immediately by a comprehensive treatment program addressing all of the factors that can cause MS, provides the best hope for a successful outcome—the end result is often a complete cure. As patients follow their prescribed treatment protocols and make necessary changes to their diet and lifestyle, at the very least, noticeable improvements are achieved, enabling them to have much greater control over their symptoms.
MS affects each person differently and requires an individualized treatment program in order to be properly dealt with. For this reason, holistic practitioners recommend that in-depth testing be conducted to fully determine the factors involved in each patient`s condition. Testing can include a mineral sweat test to evaluate each patient`s overall mineral status as well as possible heavy mineral poisoning. This test is simple to perform and involves the application of a specific type of plaque on the patient`s back. The patient is then engaged in physical activity that causes him or her to moderately perspire for an hour. Perspiration is collected in the plaque and then analyzed.
Other recommended tests include nutrient and antioxidant assessment, adrenal stress test, complete blood count testing, a biochemistry panel, glucose tolerance testing, and stool analysis to determine the health of the patient`s digestive system and ability to assimilate nutrients.
Screening for food and environmental allergies is also important.
Once the underlying causative factors are assessed, a proper treatment program can be created. Typically, it will include the following therapeutic approaches:
Aromatherapy: Adding juniper or rosemary essential oils to extra virgin olive oil (5 percent essential oil to 95 percent olive oil) and then massaging your body with this blend can help ease MS symptoms.
Ayurvedic Medicine: The Ayurvedic herb ashwaghanda can often be helpful in alleviating symptoms of MS because of its adaptogenic properties that help to restore balance to various body systems, including the immune and nervous systems.
Bee Venom Therapy: Bee venom therapy, also known as apitherapy, involves the injection of honeybee venom by hypodermic needle, or by applied bee stings. In the latter case, trained physicians hold honeybees with tweezers, placing them over patients` bodies, where the bees then sting them. The bee stings can last for only a few seconds or for as much as five minutes, depending on the dosage of bee venom that is determined to be necessary.
Over 1,500 scientific papers on bee venom therapy have been published in Europe and Asia attesting to the healing benefits of bee stings. According to the practitioners of the therapy, bee venom therapy can begin to ease MS symptoms after as little as 20 to 40 bee stings, with most patients achieving significant reversals of their symptoms, including complete remission, within six to 18 months. The therapy works by first stimulating the immune system, both at the site of the bee sting, and systemically throughout the body. Then, as the venom enters the body, it produces anti-inflammatory effects that are 100 times greater than cortisone shots. Bee venom also acts as a potent antioxidant.
Caution: Approximately 2 percent of the population is allergic to bee venom. If you fall into this category, you should avoid bee venom therapy because of the risk of severe allergic reactions and anaphylactic shock.
Biological Dentistry: If you suffer from MS due to dental amalgam fillings, you should consider having them removed and replaced with biologically compatible fillings. According to Dr. Hal Huggins, individuals should undergo a serum biocompatibility blood test to determine what materials are biologically compatible with their body. He cautions that some replacement filling materials can over-stimulate or depress immune function, and that others contain aluminum, another toxic metal that should be avoided.
For best results, amalgam removal and replacement should be individualized based on each person`s unique biochemistry. Then, once the fillings have been removed and replaced, treatment should be followed by a detoxification program to help rid the body of stored mercury in tissues and organs. Dr. Huggins recommends that nutritional support, along with acupressure and massage therapy, be part of such a detoxification program, depending on each patient`s specific needs. Following detoxification, specific individualized, dietary guidelines and nutritional supplements are used to further enhance recovery.
Dr. Huggins has treated hundreds of MS patients using the above protocol, and achieved significant benefit in 85 percent of his cases, including wheelchair-bound MS patients recovering their ability to walk.
Detoxification Therapies: Detoxifying the body of toxins and improving the health and function of the lymphatic system can significantly reduce MS symptoms. Useful detoxification strategies include colonics, dry skin brushing, enemas, far-infrared and steam saunas (under your physician`s supervision), fasting, herbal wraps, lymphatic massage, and light beam therapy. For more information on detoxification, see Cleansing and Detoxification.
Diet: MS patients should emphasize an organic, whole foods diet that is low on saturated fats and includes plenty of fresh organic fruits and vegetables. According to Dr. Swank, who has been exploring the link between diet and MS for more than 50 years, saturated fat intake should be limited to not more than 15 grams each day, which is the equivalent of three teaspoons per day. Ideally, all sources of saturated fats, such as dairy products, meats, and commercially processed and packaged foods, should be avoided. Instead, emphasis should be on foods high in essential fatty acids and polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, which are contained in fresh fruits and vegetables; oily fish, such as bluefish, bass, salmon, sardines, and trout; and olive, flaxseed, safflower, and sunflower oils. For additional benefit, Dr. Swank recommends supplementing with between four to ten teaspoons of unsaturated oils each day.
Other foods to include in your daily meals are mung beans and mung bean sprouts, millet, free-range poultry, and organic nuts and seeds, while avoiding alcohol, chocolate, dairy products, eggs, commercially prepared and fast foods, fermented foods, hydrogenated oils and solid fats, margarine, milk, red meats, salt, shellfish, sugar, and yeast, as well as hydrolyzed vegetable proteins and food additives and preservatives.
Energy Medicine: One of the most effective ways to screen for all of the underlying causes of MS is a technique known as electrodermal screening, or EDS. Electrodermal screening is a noninvasive diagnostic technique that measures the electrical output of specific points on the hands, face, or feet that correlate to acupuncture meridian points at the beginning or end of energy meridians. The electrical signals given off at these points provide information about the health status of the body`s organs and organ systems, and can also be used to detect the presence of toxins, energy and hormonal imbalances, and harmful microorganisms. In the hands of a highly skilled practitioner, EDS can often detect hidden contributing factors for MS, even when other sophisticated testing methods fail to do so because of the fact that both health and disease are first and foremost the results of balanced or imbalanced energy.
Energy medicine can also be used to protect MS patients from harmful EMFs. One of the most useful devices for doing so is a Teslar watch, named after the brilliant inventor Nikola Tesla, which protects against harmful EMF frequencies while producing a healthy EMF signal similar to the earth`s resonance of 7-9 Hz to enable the body to operate within its own natural frequency range.
Environmental Medicine: Practitioners of environmental medicine test MS patients for dietary and environmental allergies—such as chemicals, dust, heavy metals, mold, and pollen—that can contribute to and exacerbate MS symptoms. Food allergies are determined via blood testing, elimination diets, and electrodermal screening (see Energy Medicine above). To conduct an elimination diet, remove suspected offending foods from your diet and see if your symptoms are reduced within a few days. If so, you should avoid such foods completely for 60-90 days. After this period you may begin to slowly re-introduce them into your diet if symptoms do not return.
Environmental allergies can be diagnosed using electrodermal screening and/or a technique known as maximum tolerated intradermal dose testing. The latter test is conducted by the injection of suspected substances into the skin. If an allergic reaction occurs, patients can often become desensitized to such substances by injecting them in the largest dose that does not cause a reaction. In the case of stored toxins, a detoxification regimen can be devised to help eliminate them. It is not unusual for MS patients to experience a complete remission of their symptoms once offending foods and environmental substances are eliminated.
Enzyme Therapy: The use of pancreatic enzymes can improve MS symptoms, often quite dramatically. This natural approach for treating MS is widely used in both Germany and Mexico.
The reason pancreatic enzyme therapy can be so helpful is because of the enzyme`s ability to digest or destroy circulating immune complexes (CICs). CICs are undigested food particles that remain in the blood, triggering an autoimmune reaction that can lead to the destruction of myelin. As they are digested or destroyed by pancreatic enzymes, the autoimmune reaction ceases, often leading to an improvement in MS symptoms, and greater periods of respite before MS symptoms flare up again. To enhance this treatment approach, you can also supplement with essential fatty acids and selenium.
Histamine Therapy: Histamine, a compound created from the amino acid histidine, is released during allergic reactions. Since the 1950s, researchers have known that histamine can relieve MS symptoms due to the various reactions it causes in the body, such as contraction of smooth muscles, dilation of blood vessels, and improved secretion of gastric acid.
Histamine can be applied topically and absorbed through the skin. When administered to MS patients, research shows that they typically exhibit improved bladder control, cognitive function, and muscle strength, as well as a reduction in the levels of fatigue that often accompany MS. Concurrent with these improvements are an increase of blood flow to the brain, improved digestion, and a cessation of inappropriate immune responses. In some cases, there is also a regrowth of myelin tissue.
Hydrotherapy: Hydrotherapy is the application of water, ice, steam and hot and cold temperatures to maintain and restore health. Treatments include full body immersion, steam baths, saunas, sitz baths, colonic irrigation and the application of hot and/or cold compresses. Hydrotherapy is effective for treating a wide range of conditions and can easily be used in the home as part of a self-care program. Many Naturopathic Physicians, Physical Therapists and Day Spas use Hydrotherapy as part of treatment. We suggest several at-home hydrotherapy treatments. Please seek the advice of your alternative health care practitioner before undergoing these procedures to make sure they are appropriate for you.
*Purified water is essential for any hydrotherapy treatment. Remedies for Treating Chlorinated Bath Water offers clear instructions and recommendations.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy: Hyperbaric oxygen therapy, or HBOT, involves the placement of patients inside a sealed oxygen chamber. Once inside, patients sit comfortably as the atmospheric pressure is elevated to saturate the body`s tissues with oxygen. In addition to increasing the oxygen supply to the body`s tissues, HBOT can help enhance immune function and reduce inflammation, heal damaged blood vessels and improve blood circulation, and, most importantly, stimulate the production of new myelin.
Physicians in England who administered HBOT to approximately 4,000 MS patients reported that nearly half of them experienced significant benefits, including improved control over their symptoms, less fatigue and pain, and improvements in their balance, bladder control, coordination, upper and lower limb movements, speech, and vision.
According to Richard A. Neubauer, and HBOT expert and author of the book Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, an average of 20 HBOT sessions per year are enough to prevent a return of MS symptoms, with best results being obtained when HBOT is administered as soon as possible after MS symptoms first begin.
Juice Therapy: Short fasts using organic fruit and vegetable juices can help alleviate symptoms.
Lifestyle: Exercise can help MS patients in a variety of ways, including helping to balance immune response, improving mood, and keeping muscles toned and supple. The best forms of exercise for MS patients include walking, gentle aerobic exercise, and yoga.
Stopping smoking and reducing your exposure to secondhand smoke is advised. Research has found that MS patients who smoke experience an immediate deterioration of their motor function, most likely because of how nicotine negatively affects the central nervous system.
In addition, you should also avoid the use of electric heating pads, chlorinated water, and fluoride, which is found in tap water and commercial mouthwashes and toothpastes, all of which can exacerbate MS symptoms.
Magnet Therapy: Though MS can be exacerbated by electromagnetic fields (EMFs), magnet therapy that employs weak pulsed magnetic fields can be very helpful in soothing MS symptoms. Among the MS symptoms that are improved by pulsed magnet therapy are alexia, bladder incontinence, fatigue, and spasticity.
Mind Body Medicine: Mind/body medicine can help MS patients cope with stress, which can significantly increase MS symptoms. Mind/body approaches can be as simple as taking a short, restful nap each day or breathing deeply through the belly periodically for five to ten minutes at a time. Other useful mind/body medicine techniques include biofeedback, guided imagery and visualization, hypnosis, and meditation.
Nutritional Supplements: Proper nutritional supplementation is essential for MS patients. This includes supplementing with essential fatty acids, especially omega-3 oils such as alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), evening primrose oil, and flaxseeds and flaxseed oil.
Many holistic physicians also recommend oil instillation in conjunction with a chamomile enema. The purpose of the enema, which involves taking chamomile tea into the lower bowel via an enema bag, is to clean out the colon and to relax the intestinal muscles, which can often spasm in cases of MS. Following the enema, 3 tablespoons of either organic, cold-pressed flax, sunflower, or walnut oil is inserted into the colon using a syringe tipped with a catheter. This enables the body to quickly absorb the essential fatty acids the oil contains through the intestinal walls. For best results, both the enema and oil instillation should be administered each night for three weeks. Afterwards, the dose can be reduced to 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons and can be administered three times a week.
In addition to essential fatty acids, the following nutrients are also recommended for MS patients: beta-carotene and carotenoids; bioflavonoids; B-complex vitamins, along with vitamin B1, B3, B5, B6, and B12; vitamin C; vitamin D; vitamin E; folic acid; calcium AEP; coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10); magnesium; selenium; and zinc. Other helpful supplements include alpha lipoic acid; aspartic acid; dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO); gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA); glutamic acid; glycine; methylsufonylmethane (MSM); and the amino acids carnitine, choline, cysteine, glutathione, and methione.
5-HTP (5-hydroxy-tryptophan), which aids in the body's production of the hormones melatonin and serotonin, is also recommended for MS patients.
Alternative Professional Care
The following therapies can also be helpful for cases of multiple sclerosis: Acupressure and Acupuncture (for relief of symptoms), Biofeedback Training and Neurotherapy, Bodywork (Bowen Therapy, Massage Therapy, Feldenkrais Method), Chelation Therapy, Detoxification Therapies (especially therapies that cleanse the lymphatic system, such as dry skin brushing, exercise on a mini-trampoline, herbal wraps, and lymphatic massage exercise), Energy Medicine (Light Beam Generator, Ondamed), Guided Imagery, Hypnotherapy, Mind/Body Medicine, Nutritional Medicine, Osteopathic Medicine, reflexology, Tai Chi, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Yoga. (See Glossary for descriptions of these Alternative Therapies.)
Quick Action Plan for Multiple Sclerosis
If you suspect you suffer from multiple sclerosis, seek diagnosis as soon as possible, as early diagnosis can dramatically improve the likelihood of a successful treatment outcome. An excellent means of diagnosing MS is electrodermal screening, which can often detect disease symptoms far earlier than conventional testing methods, and which can also detect hidden causative factors that other tests are unable to find.
A healthy diet is essential for dealing successfully with MS. Emphasize a diet that is low in saturated fats and abundant in essential fatty acids. Eat plenty of fresh, organic fruits and vegetables, oily fish, free-range poultry, and olive, flaxseed, safflower, and sunflower oils. Organic nuts and seeds, millet, mung beans, and mung bean sprouts are also recommended.
Avoid alcohol, chocolate, dairy products, eggs, fast and commercially prepared foods, fermented foods, hydrogenated oils and solid fats, margarine, red meats, salt, shellfish, sugar, and yeast, as well as hydrolyzed vegetable proteins and food additives and preservatives.
For additional benefit, supplement with four to ten teaspoons of unsaturated oils each day.
Recommended nutritional supplements for MS include B complex vitamins, vitamin B2, vitamin B3, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, beta carotene and other carotenoids, bioflavonoids, vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin E, calcium AEP, magnesium, selenium, and zinc.
Other useful supplements include alpha lipoic acid, CoQ10, DMSO, MSM, and the amino acids carnitine, choline, cysteine, glutathione, and methionine.
Test for and eliminate all foods and environmental factors that can cause allergies and sensitivities.
To reduce the burden of toxins in your body, consider a program of detoxification therapy, ideally under the supervision of your physician.
If you have mercury-containing dental amalgam fillings, have them removed and replaced with new fillings made from materials with which you are biocompatible.
Avoid exposure to unhealthy electromagnetic fields (EMFs) caused by electricity flowing through the coils of electrical wires and common home and office appliances and equipment, as well as cell phones and many types of motors. To protect yourself from unhealthy EMFs, consider wearing a Teslar watch and receiving weak pulsed magnet therapy.
Be sure to minimize your stress levels using mind/body medicine techniques such as biofeedback, guided imagery and visualization, hypnosis, meditation, and relaxation exercises such as deep breathing.
A restful nap each day can also help reduce your MS symptoms.
Regularly engage in an exercise program of gentle aerobics or walking to keep your muscles toned and supple.
To increase oxygenation of tissues and to stimulate the repair of myelin, consider hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT).
