Naturopathic Care for Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune condition that affects your central nervous system (a.k.a., the entirety of your brain), causing problems associated with vision, movement, thinking, and other regulatory processes that allow your body to function effectively everyday! The main problem that triggers the development of this debilitating disease is inflammation that attacks your central nervous system in what appears to be a form of autoimmune dysfunction. Multiple sclerosis is tricky in that its clinical course is extremely variable. It may initially cause mild, un-alarming symptoms that rapidly progress into an incapacitating disease that requires an extensive, holistic health plan targeting your lifestyle choices, maintenance supplements and medications, and whole body routines that nurture your brain and the functions it is responsible for everyday. 

Understanding Multiple Sclerosis

The exact cause behind multiple sclerosis is yet to be discovered. However, its progression is severely affected by inflammation that causes demyelination of nerves (damage to the protective layer of myelin wrapped around the nerve to help deliver signals fast and accurately to organs and cells within the body) and neurodegeneration (a.k.a., destruction of the very cells that make up your nervous system). This inflammation begins when your T-helper cells, a specific type of white blood cell, become activated, causing them to attach to the lining of your central nervous system, cross the blood-brain barrier which filters out toxins from the blood and supplies the brain with nutrients, and attack the very cells they were supposed to protect, eventually causing damage and destruction.1 Different factors can affect the progression of multiple sclerosis, including environmental elements, genetic predisposition, infection, chemical or environmental toxin exposure, and immune dysfunction.
​

Signs and Symptoms

Multiple sclerosis may occur abruptly or insidiously. This means that people with multiple sclerosis may experience sudden bouts of severe symptoms, while others may have very mild symptoms to the point that they may not think of these as needing appropriate medical attention! Since your brain is responsible for regulating a wide variety of processes everyday, symptoms of multiple sclerosis generally depend on the location and severity of lesions within the brain. These may include vision problems or loss, vertigo, dizziness, impaired swallowing, difficulty speaking, weakness, tremors, tingling sensations, problems with urinating or having a bowel movement, and difficulty concentrating or recalling snippets of your past memories.1 These symptoms can be transient, waxing and waning over a period of days to months. Often, this is followed by a period with no symptoms at all, which can last months to years. 
​

Allopathic Treatments

Multiple sclerosis is conventionally managed with disease modifying therapies (DMT) consisting of medications that can help decrease lesions and damage within the brain.1 Additionally, supportive management is also used to manage your unique symptoms. This includes the use of corticosteroids to reduce inflammation and discomfort. However, people with severe disease or those having neurodegenerative cases may not fully benefit from this therapeutic regimen.
​

The Naturopathic Approach

Naturopathic care for multiple sclerosis aims to nurture optimal well-being through incorporating different strategies that target multiple aspects of your health.

​Mitochondrial
​Support​

Supports Healthy Nerves

​Helps Reduce Inflammation

Nutrient Supplementation
​

1. Essential fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids have immunomodulatory properties that will help regulate your immune response and reduce inflammation that can promote the progression of multiple sclerosis through stabilizing cytokine levels in the blood.2 
2. Lipoic acid. This wonderful supplement has anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties that can help taper down the progression of multiple sclerosis and reduce chances of relapse.2 Additionally, lipoic acid has wonderful antioxidant properties that can help regenerate vitamin E, glutathione, and vitamin C, which are other forms of antioxidants that can help repair damaged tissues.2
3. Vitamin D. Low vitamin D levels in the body can increase your risk of experiencing severe symptoms when you have multiple sclerosis. In fact, majority (84%) of people previously diagnosed with multiple sclerosis also have deficiencies in vitamin D.2  The benefits of vitamin D supplementation in people with multiple sclerosis is rooted in its abilities to disrupt the abilities of inflammatory cells to enter your brain.2 Since vitamin D can be over-supplemented leading to toxicity, you should have your levels checked prior to, and during, supplementation. 

​Lifestyle Changes

Did you know? Healthcare providers in the past used to ban people with multiple sclerosis from exercising because they previously believed that higher body temperature and use of nerve fibers from exercise can worsen disease symptoms and affect the course of illness!2 This belief has been debunked as medicine learns more about the nature of multiple sclerosis. Presently, regular physical activity and exercise are known to be beneficial in improving cognitive function in people with multiple sclerosis.2 

Regular exercise is also critical for helping to maintain function and mobility as you manage your condition. Your exercise routine may need to be optimized to help you maintain or improve your strength and activity levels while preventing increasing inflammation or over-fatiguing your muscles, but there is no need to give up enjoyable physical activities. Additionally, regular exercise can improve your heart health, metabolic functions, bone strength, mood, and blood sugar levels, thereby nurturing other aspects of your health!

Stress Reduction Techniques

Stress can worsen multiple sclerosis symptoms and increase your risks of having disease exacerbations, as this phenomenon creates more lesions in the brain.2 Hence, managing your stress levels through nurturing the connection between your mind and body can help prevent these consequences. Mind-body practices such as yoga, breathing exercises, and meditation can help reduce stress and promote relaxation.

Take note: Talking to your healthcare provider before exploring different options for your health and changing your treatment regimen is essential. This is to ensure that the regimen you are taking is best for your optimal health. Additionally, this step helps prevent unwanted effects that may cause more harm than good to your body.

Nurturing Your Brain Health

Multiple sclerosis can affect different processes within the body, causing unique sets of symptoms that can inevitably affect your day-to-day lives. This is why following a personalized and holistic approach that targets nutrition, supplementation, lifestyle changes, and medications (whether conventional or botanical) is important to achieve remission and nurture optimal well-being. At Natural Path to Wellness, we will help you in every step of this road to wellness. Talk to us today!

BECOME A CLIENT

This article is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Please consult your licensed naturopathic physician or other licensed healthcare provider before making changes to your medications or supplements. 

Disclosures & Policies: This and other blog posts may contain affiliate links. Please view our disclosures page for more information.

REFERENCES:

1. Tafti D, Ehsan M, Xixis KL. Multiple Sclerosis. In: StatPearls. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; March 20, 2024.
2. ​Pizzorno JE, Murray MT. Textbook of Natural Medicine. Elsevier; 2021.