Alternative Multiple Sclerosis Treatment:

MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS, or MS, is a chronic, slowly progressing disorder of the brain, the spinal cord, and the optic nerves. About 250,000 Americans are diagnosed with MS annually, with women being affected slightly more often than men. In about two thirds of patients, the disorder begins between the ages of twenty and forty. The most common initial symptom is the sudden loss of vision in one eye and/or a tingling or feeling of numbness in an arm or leg. Weakness in the limb can cause fumbling or an unsteady gait. Other symptoms include mental changes, slurred speech, and difficulties with bladder control.

Typically, the first symptoms disappear in a few weeks or months. Some people go for years--five, ten, or even more--before having another attack. A few people never have a second attack. The fact that MS can be so erratic in its development is one reason that discovery of a cure has been elusive: If a certain approach works is it because it's really effective or because the patient went into remission? The diagnosis of the disorder is usually made after a series of attacks give a high probability of MS. An examination of the spinal fluid helps give a conclusive diagnosis. It's important to remember that not everyone is crippled by the disease. Many people have mild symptoms and lead an essentially normal life.

Anyone who suffers form MS should, of course, be under the care or a neurologist. There is, as yet, no cure, but there are drugs that can help relieve symptoms. There are also natural treatments that are primarily of help in retarding the progression of the disorder. No matter what treatment or drug is used in fighting the disorder, it is very important for MS patients to adopt a generally healthy lifestyle with an adequate diet, good stress control, and sufficient sleep.

The cause of MS remains a mystery. We know what happens. The myelin sheath that surrounds the nerves is destroyed. But, we don't know precisely why. Interestingly, people from higher latitudes are at higher risk for developing the disorder: High-risk areas include the northern United States, Canada, Great Britain, Scandinavia, Northern Europe, New Zealand, and Tasmania. The intriguing exception to this geographic distribution is Japan, where MS is rare. The peculiar geographic spread of the disorder has led researchers to study environmental factors as contributing to MS. There does also seem to be evidence that diet plays a part.

Viruses have long been studied for their relation to MS. Recent research in Norway proposed a connection between exposure to a virus such as Epstein-Barr at a critical age--between thirteen and twenty-and the development of the disease, the speculation being not that the Epstein-Barr virus causes the disease but that it acts as a trigger. The measles virus has also been implicated in this way.

Lately a great deal of scrutiny has been placed on MS as an autoimmune disorder, that is, a disorder in which the body does not recognize its own cells and sends out antibodies against them. In MS the speculation is that the antibodies are attacking the myelin that covers the nerve fibers. A recent and exciting discovery seems to confirm the autoimmune connection: Researchers have identified two types of white blood cells that are thought to cause MS by attacking the nerve tissue. Earlier studies with animals demonstrated that a peptide made specifically to react to the white blood cells could block them from attacking the nerve tissue. Studies are under way to determine whether the same process will be effective with humans.

In the meantime, we are left with some natural means that have proven helpful in retarding the progress of the disorder. I should mention that all of the suggestions I am about to make have been found to be most effective when started early on in the development of the disorder. Someone who has suffered from MS for a long time and is severely symptomatic will probably have less success with natural methods than someone newly diagnosed.

Some researchers have found a connection between MS and allergies. Dr. Herman Weinreb at New York University Medical Center, who noticed that the changes in the nervous system of patients with MS resembled the changes caused by allergies, worked to eliminate all allergens in an effort to reduce MS attacks. His treatment had positive results, with bedridden patients becoming wheelchair-bound, wheelchair patients becoming ambulatory, and some patients becoming symptom-free. While food allergies are not a cause of MS, if we accept that it is an autoimmune disorder it follows that eliminating any allergens, which also stimulate an autoimmune response, would be very helpful. I believe it is useful to review the potential for allergic reactions and to eliminate as much as is possible any allergen sources.

The connection between MS and allergies may be the reason that the MacDougall treatment is effective for some people. Roger MacDougall was severely affected by MS. Confined to a wheelchair and almost blind, he created a diet and, over the course of years, became virtually free of symptoms. His diet forbids all gluten-containing cereals such as wheat, oats, rye, and barley.MacDougall recommends severely limiting saturated fats and strictly forbids dairy products including butter, cream, and cheeses. In addition he recommends taking vitamins and minerals including the B complex vitamins as well as vitamins C and E, calcium, magnesium, and zinc.

It appears that treatment with high levels of antioxidants can be helpful. The antioxidants include vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, and selenium. These antioxidants should be taken every day for the rest of your life.

IN ADDITION TO YOUR DALLY SUPPLEMENTS, TAKE:

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Nutritional problems can start before birth. What the mother does during pregnancy, can set the stage for the childs nutritional problems. We would be much healthier if we simply stay away from problem foods, such as non-organic meat, fruits and vegetables. Non-organic foods are actually poisoned with un-natural hormones and pesticides. To simplify this, we need to know that we can defeat the symptoms, of what we have been told by allopathic doctors are diseases. When we get our nutrition and our hormonal problems balanced, we can begin to strengthen our immune system, which is the only way we are going to correct the true disease, nutritional and hormonal deficiency.

Our chances of being healthy would be greatly increased, if we would eat meat products, from free range farms and eat organic fruits and vegetables. Also as important, would be the elimination of pasturized milk and all grains, from your diet. However, raw milk from grass fed, free range cattle that has not had un-natural hormones added, would be beneficial.

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