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Dna Vaccine Shows Promise For Halting Ms

Med — Mon, 17 May 2010 01:47:52 +0000

If you have not heard about the latest promising treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS), listen up! There is a DNA vaccine that is showing some promise in early clinical trials which seems to stop the harmful immune system responses which cause the myelin destruction and resulting lesions. This vaccine would also work similar for type 1 diabetes as well as a few other autoimmune diseases.

The very early studies of this vaccine show promise in a phase one trial. So far, the vaccine has proven to be safe in the short term but it will take a while longer before the long term ramifications are known. However, the preliminary reactions and evidence teasingly show great promise.

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease which works in a specific way – the T cells that supposedly are supposed to attack germs and such actually end up attacking your own nerve cells. The new vaccine currently in clinical phase trials works to latch onto only those cells that cause MS while leaving the good T cells alone.

The advantage to this new vaccine is that it has the potential to produce far fewer side effects than the current multiple sclerosis medications which just treat the symptoms rather than the cause. In fact, that is the sole goal of the vaccine – to target MS disease causing cells. When you have the disease, your T cells attack the protective sheath around your nerve fibers called myelin and in fact specifically targets certain proteins called antigen.

The test vaccine uses a DNA specially engineered which serves to encode these antigen proteins. While other vaccines may incite an immune response against the antigen proteins in the vaccine, this new one in the test phase works to latch itself to the antigen proteins in such a way as to shut off your body’s immunological response instead of turning against your body.

During this first phase, those MS patients who got the vaccine did not have any worsening of symptoms and in fact, MRI tests showed that there were not as many lesions in the brain than those with a placebo. Of course, larger trials would be needed with more MS patients to test to see if this trend in the reduction of lesions would still occur.

The great thing about DNA vaccines is that scientists can target very specific things within your immune system, like targeting those very specific T cells that attack the nerves in MS patients. If it truly works in larger trials, it would be a major success and a big leap in the right direction towards curing the disease as well as many other autoimmune diseases.

Until this DNA vaccine has been thoroughly tested, there are plenty of medications that are coming out on the market to target MS which will help lessen the severity of symptoms or even put your body in remission for stretches of time. It could, unfortunately, take years before the vaccine is available to the general public of MS patients.

Dietary Decisions For An Ms Way Of Life

Med — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 20:44:52 +0000

Every person is an individual chemical, biological machine and therefore multiple sclerosis (MS) will affect everyone in different ways just like other health conditions would. While you are powerless against the disease itself, you are not without ready access to some powerful retaliating weapons against the disease. Things like exercise and a healthy diet can go a long way toward controlling and living with MS.

Diet is Good

A diagnosis of MS can make you seem like you have no control over your life. However, you can control what you can with a great diet which can positively affect how MS rules your body. One of the main goals in your diet should be a healthy weight for your body. Whether you need to gain weight or lose it, it can all be done with exercise and what food and drink you consume. Here, you have total power.

Take the food pyramid to heart and follow the basic guidelines it sets out for the number of fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy, fats and meats you should consume daily. Your diet is your foundation so make it a solid one with the right food choices. Do a little research to see which foods are high in antioxidants and which ones have low fat, high fiber and more.

Just like your body without MS, foods high in fat should be consumed sparingly as it can pack on the pounds and use portion control. When you gain weight, it places more undue stress on your body which is already fighting its own battle with MS symptoms. Don’t give your body anything else to stress about.

Be Realistic

Don’t make drastic changes overnight, as going cold turkey on your favorite cupcakes and chips can throw your body into shock. Slowly replace fattening foods with healthier options and experiment with new foods. Meet with a dietician or nutritionist who is well-versed in multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune type diseases to come up with a realistic eating plan.

One thing you should consider is those times when you might experience a relapse and have more MS symptoms than usual. When this occurs, you have to compensate in exercise and other physical activity and you should also consider the dietary ramifications as well. If you will not be able to exercise as effectively to help burn calories, then your diet should be modified to reflect that. You do not want to gain weight during your relapse as it will further exacerbate your MS symptoms.

In addition, some of your MS medications could cause a few side effects which your diet could address. For instance, dry mouth and dry skin are common complaints of drug reactions. There are many foods with high water content which might help with the dry mouth and foods like almonds and avocados which have many beneficial properties which include helping produce softer, more supple skin. These are additional things to consider when it comes to your diet plan.

As mentioned before, work with a nutritionist and your doctor to develop a game plan for eating which can be adaptable for your remission and relapse periods. MS is not a death sentence. Do what you can to make life easier on yourself as well as healthier. Besides exercise, what you eat and drink is up to you. You have the power to change your life for the better.

Balancing Those Ms Scales With Meditation

Med — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 05:19:52 +0000

Meditation has proven in many cases to be a great stress reliever and pain alleviator. Meditation improves your mood, boosts your immunity and reduces anxiety and many other ailments. It is no wonder that meditation is viewed as a possible treatment for MS. There are millions of people who can attest to the fact that meditation works.

How Meditation Works

When you meditate, it brings a feeling of relaxation to your body which in turn slows down your metabolism, your blood pressure lowers all the while your breathing brain waves and heart rate is bolstered. The bottom line is that muscle tension starts to release as a result of the meditation. So how does this benefit people with MS?

There is scientific evidence of MRIs conducted on people who meditate and there is a lot more activity than normal in the areas of the brain that regulate the heart beat and metabolism. In addition, there is proof that meditation creates changes that are long lasting in memory, attention span, clarity and perception. These are all cognitive areas which can be impacted by MS.

It takes time and effort in order for meditation to start working for you. Just like any sport, practice is necessary in order for you to get the hang of meditation. Practicing how to breathe properly as well as clear the mind can be difficult. However, eventually you can become proficient and gain a relaxed state much more quickly. This relaxation and drain of stressful tension in the body can greatly help MS sufferers alleviate some of the pain built into the muscles.

Another way that meditation helps MS patients is as an immunity booster. When you get sick even with a simple cold when you have MS, it can be a big deal. What would normally be a miserable few days for someone without the disease can be an emotionally and physically draining several weeks as your body works harder to ward illness off. With meditation, your body produces more antibodies to help ward of illness than if you did not meditate.

Women with MS sometimes have problems with the normal premenstrual symptoms and even menopause because of the hormonal changes. However, with meditation, these symptoms are often greatly improved and those pesky menopausal hot flashes? They are greatly reduced thanks to meditation.

Meditation also helps boost the brain activity associated with happiness as well as cognitive learning. Some people who have MS may have depression or negative thoughts that they just cannot fight very successfully. However with meditation, the brain waves are altered creating a type of euphoria which not only is a great mood alleviator but also helps guard against the worst of the MS pain that might be present.

While some doctors may be skeptic about meditation, it does nothing to set your MS back and it won’t hurt to try it. Many doctors cannot dispute the fact that their MS patients are more positive, alert and experience less pain than those who do not meditate. Coincidence? Absolutely not! Meditate on it a while and you will likely come to the same conclusion.

An Overview Of The Four Basic Types Of Ms

Med — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 13:23:52 +0000

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is not a one size fits all disease. It afflicts each person who has it differently and therefore must be lumped in different categories in order to delineate the progression of the disease. Doctors have studied the disease and decided that there are four main types of MS.

Some people will have mild symptoms for years while others have moderate or severe symptoms for years before it is diagnosed. In addition, MS has been known to morph from one type to another over a period of time.

Most Common Type of MS

The relapsing-remitting MS is the most common form of the disease and is represented by a large portion of the population of MS sufferers. In this particular type, you may experience succession of relapses when your MS symptoms seem to get worse. Then, you will experience remissions when the symptoms lessen or disappear altogether.

Many sufferers will call the relapse period a time filled with flare-ups. Different intensities of pain along with new symptoms cropping up and disappearing during the remission phase. Thanks to the medications these days like corticosteroids, these relapse times can be shortened to bring relief.

Steady Decline

About ten percent or so of MS sufferers belong to the primary-progressive category. This type of MS marks a gradual but steady decline in terms of the symptoms. This category does not experience the number of relapses and remissions as the first category. Instead, you will feel start to feel worse degree by degree and the rate of decline will vary from person to person.

Secondary-Progressive

People who fall into this category first started off in the relapse-remitting phase of MS. Remission stages have worn away leaving only a steady deterioration of symptoms which can vary from one person to another. About half of the people who were originally in the relapse-remission category develop this secondary-progressive phase, usually within 8-10 years of the diagnosis.

The medications for MS sufferers these days have greatly slowed down the secondary-progressive phase quite a bit so the studies in regards to this phase are somewhat out of date. So basically the jury is still out as to how fast some MS sufferers decline in this category.

Progressive-Relapse

A small percentage of MS sufferers fall into the worst category called progressive-relapse. If you fall into this phase you likely are suffering from a steady degeneration of symptoms along with flare-ups and attacks on certain days. There are no remission phases in the progressive-relapse category. While medications may ease the pain of the symptoms, they no longer help your body into the remission phase.

It may take some time after your initial diagnosis of MS to determine where you fall in terms of the four basic categories. And even when you find out, there are many medications today that can successfully help you deal with the many symptoms of MS. These medications and new pharmaceutical advances in treating the disease are happening every day can provide current and future MS sufferers a large amount of comfort and will also help delay the decline of the disease.

Theories About Multiple Sclerosis Causes

Med — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 13:59:52 +0000

Doctors and researchers don’t have one single definitive answer as to what causes multiple sclerosis (MS). However they do have several theories that seem to apply to the majority of people who suffer from the disease but they do not adequately describe all possibilities. Doctors believe that genetics plays a role as well as environmental factors, your immune system response and even infectious disease.

Environmental Factors of MS

Vitamin D, the vitamin we get from exposure to the sun may play a factor in developing MS. It seems that there is a prominent risk factor in places that are far from the equator where the sun shines all the time. It seems that pollutants in the atmosphere filter out some of the necessary sunlight that is essential for Vitamin D production. People who live in these places are far more likely to be at risk for MS than those people who live near the equator.

Immunological Response

Sometimes, it is your own immune system that turns against you, causing multiple sclerosis. Your lymphocytes aka T cells which tell your body what viruses and other infections to fight off, instead attack your own body cells, specifically those in the spinal cord and brain. When these T cells attack your own immune system, the outer coating of the nerves called myelin is damaged.

This damage to the myelin affects how your nerves end up functioning in your body. Often, you end up with a variety of different MS symptoms like sensory problems, tremors, dizziness, prickling pain, vision problem, mental clarity issues and more. There are currently a number of treatments which work to help your body’s immune response from attacking your body.

Genetic History

If you have a relative with multiple sclerosis, your chances of developing the disease increase exponentially. While many doctors agree that genetics plays a small role in MS, there is not enough definitive proof to call it a genetic disease. Instead, it is used to build a health case history and provides a starting point in tracing the disease’s origins in your family.

With no previous genetic roots to multiple sclerosis, you have a 0.1% chance of developing the disease whereas if you have an immediate family member like a parent with the disease you have about a 2.5% chance of getting it. The percentage rises if an identical or fraternal twin has the disease.

Infectious Disease

Viruses are the bad guys to blame in a number of illnesses and doctors believe that they act as a trigger for your T cells to turn against your own nervous system. Bacteria too can be blamed as well. When the body recognizes the bacteria or virus, this infection initially mimics a nerve cell. Once the T-cells kill the infection, they continue looking for that infection that resembles one of your own body’s nerve cells thus triggering an attack on those actual nerve cells instead.

Basically, your own body turns on itself waging a silent war that you cannot hope to win. However, there are many treatments which can slow the progress of the disease or even put it into remission. Each person is different so experimenting with treatments is often needed to hit upon the right one that works for you.

Exercise Your Right To An Everyday Life Even With Ms

Med — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 21:05:52 +0000

Every day the public is bombarded with how it important it is to eat a healthy diet and to get some exercise. Your blood pressure will improve and cholesterol levels will go down. Indeed, there are many benefits to a healthy diet and exercise but what does it mean for someone with MS for whom pain and mobility issues at the very least are a part of every day life?

What the MS Studies Say

There have been a number of MS studies that have said the healthier and more active you are, the better your symptoms will be. In other words, if you are a sedentary couch potato, you are going to have more exacerbated symptoms and longer relapse times than someone who eat a healthy diet and makes exercise a part of their normal routine. Hey, it makes sense for anyone whether they have a disease or not.

A healthy active lifestyle will likely reduce the chances of cognitive impairment as well as bladder and bowl incontinence, several conditions that MS patients do not look forward to developing. In addition, the emotional state of active MS patients is a lot brighter, with fewer cases of depression and anger.

Choosing Exercise that Fits your MS Lifestyle

There are many physical pursuits that are attainable for MS patients, regardless of pain or handicap. All it takes are a few modifications and you can enjoy many sports and active pastimes. Swimming, of course, it the optimal exercise because it is low impact and does not put undo stress on your body. It works your muscles and cardiovascular system and definitely builds up a reserve of energy when you need it.

You can adapt certain sports so that you can participate as well, whether it is lifting weights in a gym, participating in an aerobics class, golfing or even bowling. The best part of exercise is the release of endorphins which is an excellent mood lifter as well as a mask for pain. In addition, the extra oxygen pumping throughout your body keeps your mind clear and your body ready for action. The psychological aspects of exercise alone are worth it to many MS patients.

Advice for New MS Exercisers

There are some things you should be aware of when you start working out with MS, especially if you were sporadic to begin with. MS aggravates certain symptoms and that is a proven fact. Some people when they exercise may temporarily feel numbness, tingling or experience slightly blurred vision for a short period of time after they are done. This is nothing to be alarmed about and will go away. Just be prepared for it and make plans to not drive or operate machinery until these symptoms pass.

Many MS patients will learn the best times to exercise as well as how much they can do without overextending themselves. You will learn this as well as monitoring your symptoms and how to work around them by adapting your routines. Where there is a will to stay as healthy as possible, there is always a way. Do not use MS as an excuse; instead use it as an incentive.

Living With Multiple Sclerosis

Med — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:14:52 +0000

Approximately 300,000 individuals live with MS in the United States. There are twice as many women who have the disease as men. The first signs of MS usually appear between the ages of 20 and 40. Individuals with MS may be experiencing mild symptoms or they may be having severe attacks. MS is progressive, which means there is no cure and the disease will worsen over time.

Each person living with MS experiences the disease in different ways. They may have different symptoms or the same symptoms as another with MS but be mild instead of severe. Symptoms can affect sensory, motor or neurological. The symptoms experienced will depend on which nerve cells are being attacked by the disease. Symptoms can be loss of sensation in limbs, muscle weakness, vision problems, difficulty with bladder or bowel control, sexual dysfunction, pain, tingling, numbness, depression, fatigue or loss of movement, even paralysis.

The person with MS will need to seek medical care for diagnosis and ongoing treatment. They will likely see a neurologist who will monitor the course of their disease and help them to design a treatment plan. The treatment plan will likely be a combination of medication, physical and occupational therapy and new or experimental therapies. They may seek counseling to help them deal with family members, and to deal with the emotional upheaval of the disease.

Testing will be a part of their life from diagnosing, and on a continuing basis as the disease is monitored in order to properly treat with mediations and therapies. This testing may include MRI scans, spinal tap, and blood tests.

Life will be filled with attending doctor appointments, therapy appointments, counseling sessions, picking up prescriptions and learning how to take better care of the physical and emotional self. Learning how to be good to you takes time. We all have developed bad habits over time. The individual faced with a chronic disease has to re-evaluate lifestyles and make decisions regarding how they live that will have an impact on their quality of life. Everything from getting enough sleep to eating properly and also reducing the stress in your life must be examined and any necessary changes made. Sometimes that may mean moving to where it will be easier to move about (no stairs etc.), and sometimes that may mean getting out of a stressful relationship, or giving up cigarettes or alcohol. Receiving a diagnosis like MS, has a way of making us take a good look at how we live and then making improvements that can impact not only ourselves, but those we live with too in a positive manner.

Multiple Sclerosis Explained

Med — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 05:51:52 +0000

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease of the nervous system. It can cause a variety of different symptoms that include visual problems, weakness and numbness. The cause of MS is unknown. What scientists and doctors do know is that it is an inflammatory process that attacks a certain substance in our nervous systems called “myelin”. Myelin is the substance that surrounds neurons. Neurons are the cells of the nervous system. We need myelin to facilitate the transmission of signals up and down neurons, just like insulation facilitates in electrical wiring. In individuals where the myelin is broken down, nerve impulses do not work efficiently enough and that is what causes the symptoms we recognize in those with MS.

Who are the individuals who get MS?

There are 2.5 million individuals around the world who are diagnosed with MS. The common age to be diagnosed with MS is between 20 and 40. Women seem to get MS more than men as well as individuals living in northern latitudes. There appears to be some genetic disposition to developing MS as parents and siblings seem to have MS in common. There is a 1 to 3% chance that if you have a parent or a sibling with MS, that you may develop it also. If you are an identical twin of a person with MS, you have a 25% chance of also developing it. Researches believe that there is an environmental influence that triggers the genetic predisposition for MS. A virus might possibly trigger it.

Symptoms:

The symptoms all relate to the central nervous system. The central nervous system consists of the brain and the spinal cord. The symptoms vary from one individual with MS to another one with MS.

The common symptoms of MS are:

Weakness – This can occur anywhere in the body. It can come on suddenly or it may occur slowly over time.

Spasms and Stiffness – These may affect more than one limb and can cause difficulty using that limb. If you are experiencing spasms or stiffness in your legs, it may be difficult to walk. You may feel like you have charley horses in your legs while you are exercising.

Sensory – You can experience numbness anywhere in your body. You may also have unusual sensations such as “pins and needles” that can last for a long time.

Visual – Optic neuritis is a condition that is caused by inflammation of the optic nerve. This condition results in decreased vision. The vision loss can be mild, involving color discrimination or it can be severe. Usually the vision symptoms will start slowly and then perhaps you will experience a more rapid decline in your vision. There may be an accompanying pain or light sensitivity. The vision loss may last for days or for weeks and even for months at a time. These vision symptoms almost always recover, but some individuals may notice a residual but subtle permanent change in their vision. Visual symptoms may return during exercising, when you are exerting yourself, or when your body temperature increases, such as when taking a hot shower or being submersed in a hot tub. When the body temperature returns to normal, so will the vision.

Eye movement abnormalities are common with MS. They may be in the form of double vision, or a “jumpy” vision. This can affect eye coordination of movement, or the signals received by the eyes are not being received at the same time.

Walking Issues – Weakness and stiffness as well as spasms can make walking difficult. Balance may also be an issue as well as a decreased sensation in the feet, which will make walking more difficult where it comes to making judgments about space and temperature and surface structure.

Urinary – There may be difficulties with starting a urine stream or completely emptying the bladder. Men may experience difficulty with erectile function and may have decreased libido or may have difficulty having an orgasm.

Fatigue – This is a common symptom that may be triggered by increased air temperature, and humidity. It can take more energy for a individual with MS to do the same task as before having MS.

Pain – New MS lesions can cause inflammation around the linings of the nerves and can cause acute pain, especially in optic neuritis. Spasms experienced in limbs can be painful. Neuropathic pain is a chronic condition that feels like “pins and needles” or a burning sensation.

Depression – 75% of individuals with MS can experience depression on a situational basis or even brought on by the diagnosis itself, or when they go through a decrease in ability to function.

Cognitive – Difficulties occur in 50 to 75% of individuals with MS that include a slowing of the ability to process information, short-term memory loss, impaired visuospatial skill such as depth perception. These cognitive symptoms usually occur much later in the course of the disease and are presumed to be connected to having many demyelinating lesions.

Typically a MS attack will last for more than 24 hours and can involve one or more of these symptoms.

Easy Ms Self Care Tips To Get You Through The Days

Med — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 05:32:52 +0000

A diagnosis of multiple sclerosis can be devastating at first, but it is far from a death sentence. Many people still live long, full lives and even have children while existing with the disease. They have just learned some tips and accommodation techniques to make their lives simpler during those times when pain becomes exacerbated.

You too can employ some self-care techniques to get you through the days so that you are still enjoying as much of life as possible. Alternative therapies, within reason, seem to also help alleviate some of the symptoms of the disease. Here are some self-care tips to ponder:

1. Rest and relaxation – Tiredness and fatigue is one of the most prevalent symptoms of MS. As such, you should always get plenty of rest and relaxation. Don’t be afraid to ask for help with tasks around the home. Employ your kids to some of the laundry or scrubbing the tub. Better yet, hire a housekeeper on an as-needed basis and keep the pizza place on speed dial for those times when you just cannot cook.

2. Beat the heat – Heat sensitivity is a big issue for people with MS as the heat can aggravate symptoms or cause symptoms to creep up temporarily if you are in a remission state. Muscle weakness is a major problem as is dizziness. For this reason, some people cannot take hot baths or showers anymore and must settle for lukewarm water and avoid hot tubs and saunas. The best thing to do when you become overheated is to get cool as soon as possible. Within a few hours, the symptoms usually abate.

3. Exercise for health – While you may not feel like it, exercise can really help MS sufferers. You can keep your strength and stamina up with exercise. This is helpful as exercise can give you an energy reserve to draw on when symptoms creep up on you. In addition, with exercise, you can expect better strength, coordination, balance and muscle tone. With your blood pumping, the increased oxygen levels and endorphins can also chase away depression and even anger. Swimming seems to be the best exercise for those with MS because it can be cooling and it gives you a great cardiovascular workout in a low impact way.

4. Dietary needs – There are no special foods in particular that you need to consume when you have MS. However, it is important to eat a healthy, balanced diet with plenty of vegetables, fruits, grains, dairy and lean meats. Of course, this is sound advice for anyone with health issues, not just those with MS. You really are what you eat so if you eat a diet high in fat, you can expect to get fat and feel tired all the time. However, healthy eating will give you energy and you are far less likely to gain weight.

5. Alternative therapies – There are many alternative therapies that you can try, as long as you run them by your doctor first. Reflexology, the ancient Chinese practice of applying pressure in certain trigger points in the hands and feet definitely help. However, acupuncture is an alternative treatment that should not be tried because its effects on your immune system are still questionable.

All in all, people with MS have many options in regards to self-care. Once people are past the stage of self-denial about the disease, it is necessary to be proactive with it. Instead of lying around feeling pity for yourself, you should take charge of the disease and do everything you can to lessen the severity of the symptoms. You are going to have the disease whether you do anything or not, so why not do something positive and reap the benefits?

Treatment Options For Multiple Sclerosis

Med — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:09:52 +0000

Treatment for the disease multiple sclerosis involves managing the symptoms as well as treating the disease before permanent damage causes further symptoms. Treatment should include medications, physical and occupational therapy and possible experimental and new therapies.

Treatment begins with a lengthy and complete diagnostic evaluation of the individual and should evolve around the needs of the individual.

The treatment plan should be geared towards meeting the needs of the individual in their work, school or home areas of function. Symptoms are related to the ability of the individual to function and to participate in daily activities. Managing the symptoms is critical to maintaining function. The medical team of professionals are trained to be able to assess symptoms and to monitor their intensity and to determine if the symptoms are mild or infrequent if a wait-and-see approach might be best for the individual with MS, or if there needs to be a more aggressive attitude about treatment based on controlling the progression of the disease.

Medications:

Two medications are commonly prescribed to control flare-ups and aer genetically engineered copies of proteins that naturally occur in our bodies. These medications are Interferon beta-1b (Betaseron) and interferon beta-1a (Avonex, and Rebif). It is uncertain at this time what the long-term benefits will be of these medications. Beta interferons must never be used in combination with one another. Only one of the two mentioned can be prescribed and taken at a time; never both together. Beta interferons must be used by individuals with MS who can still walk. Using these medication cannot reverse damage already done by MS. They cannot prevent permanent disability.

They are generally prescribed for individuals who have more than one attack of MS per year and those who do not recover well from these flare-ups. These medications may also be prescribed for those who have new and significant buildup of lesions, verified by MRI scan, and who have not had any new, major symptoms of disease activity.

Other medications used for MS are Glatiramer, an alternative to beta interferons. This medication cannot be used at the same time that beta interferons are being used. Glatiramer is just as effective at curbing MS attacks as beta interferons are because they block the immune system’s attack on myelin. Corticosteroids are also used to treat inflammation in nerve tissue and to shorten the duration of flare-ups. Side effects can occur with prolonged use of steroids. Muscle relaxants are prescribed to help with muscle stiffening or spasms.

Other medications are prescribed to reduce fatigue, control depression, and reduce pain and to help control bladder or bowel problems.

Physical and occupational therapy is used to preserve the independence of the individuals regarding daily tasks at work, school and home.

Counseling is used either in group or individually to help people with MS deal with their families and to cope with the disease and to aid them in dealing with the ravages of the emotional stress of MS.