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NASHVILLE, TENN. – Some patients use multiple sclerosis as an excuse to make poor health choices, but Allen C. Bowling, MD, PhD, of the Colorado Neurological Institute has seen another kind of story unfold. Fifteen to 20 years ago, Dr. Bowling said, he treated patients who took the development of MS in their 20s as a sign they needed to take better care of themselves. “They said MS was the best thing that happened to them ‘because it motivated me to make these healthy lifestyle changes I wouldn’t have made otherwise.’ ”
These patients have maintained their lifestyle changes, he said, lowering their risk of comorbidities and – perhaps – changing the course of their MS for the better.
“It’s all one machine, and sometimes we lose sight of that in our sub-sub-specialized world of treating MS ... You’re caring for a whole person. If you start thinking about that, it does make you think differently about how you treat the person, how you try to prevent disease in terms of certain pathways,” Dr. Bowling said in an interview at the annual meeting of the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers, where he spoke to colleagues about the importance of helping patients to adopt lifestyle changes.
According to Dr. Bowling, there’s evidence linking lifestyle-related comorbidities, poorer food quality, and tobacco use to higher levels of overall MS risk, relapses, disability, and symptoms.
Researchers have also linked other life factors to higher MS risks: obesity (linked to overall MS risk, disability, symptoms); lack of physical activity (linked to relapses, disability, symptoms); emotional factors (relapses, symptoms); and alcohol overuse (linked to overall risk, disability, symptoms).
“Data is mild to moderate to strong in all those areas for lifestyle approaches like diet, physical activity, emotional health, alcohol in moderation or less, and no tobacco smoking,” Dr. Bowling said.
He said he believes physical activity leads to “much higher and earlier success than diet” in MS patients, although there’s no confirmed “best exercise.”
As for nutrition, he said vitamins D and B12 are possibly beneficial. But he cautioned against the potential for harm from supplements and added that there’s no proven best diet for MS.
As for finding time to address these issues in clinic, Dr. Bowling recommended mentioning various lifestyle issues over multiple office visits.
“Some of the effort should be switched to the primary care doctor,” he said, “but you can use a strong collection of words to convey to the person with MS that this is serious: ‘It’s not MS, but it’s a serious issue, and you must see your primary care doctor.’ ”
He believes that this approach can have a significant impact, “especially for those aged 20-40, because the doctor they pay the most attention to may be their MS clinician.”
Dr. Bowling said that he receives royalties from a book he authored, “Optimal Health With Multiple Sclerosis.”
NASHVILLE, TENN. – Some patients use multiple sclerosis as an excuse to make poor health choices, but Allen C. Bowling, MD, PhD, of the Colorado Neurological Institute has seen another kind of story unfold. Fifteen to 20 years ago, Dr. Bowling said, he treated patients who took the development of MS in their 20s as a sign they needed to take better care of themselves. “They said MS was the best thing that happened to them ‘because it motivated me to make these healthy lifestyle changes I wouldn’t have made otherwise.’ ”
These patients have maintained their lifestyle changes, he said, lowering their risk of comorbidities and – perhaps – changing the course of their MS for the better.
“It’s all one machine, and sometimes we lose sight of that in our sub-sub-specialized world of treating MS ... You’re caring for a whole person. If you start thinking about that, it does make you think differently about how you treat the person, how you try to prevent disease in terms of certain pathways,” Dr. Bowling said in an interview at the annual meeting of the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers, where he spoke to colleagues about the importance of helping patients to adopt lifestyle changes.
According to Dr. Bowling, there’s evidence linking lifestyle-related comorbidities, poorer food quality, and tobacco use to higher levels of overall MS risk, relapses, disability, and symptoms.
Researchers have also linked other life factors to higher MS risks: obesity (linked to overall MS risk, disability, symptoms); lack of physical activity (linked to relapses, disability, symptoms); emotional factors (relapses, symptoms); and alcohol overuse (linked to overall risk, disability, symptoms).
“Data is mild to moderate to strong in all those areas for lifestyle approaches like diet, physical activity, emotional health, alcohol in moderation or less, and no tobacco smoking,” Dr. Bowling said.
He said he believes physical activity leads to “much higher and earlier success than diet” in MS patients, although there’s no confirmed “best exercise.”
As for nutrition, he said vitamins D and B12 are possibly beneficial. But he cautioned against the potential for harm from supplements and added that there’s no proven best diet for MS.
As for finding time to address these issues in clinic, Dr. Bowling recommended mentioning various lifestyle issues over multiple office visits.
“Some of the effort should be switched to the primary care doctor,” he said, “but you can use a strong collection of words to convey to the person with MS that this is serious: ‘It’s not MS, but it’s a serious issue, and you must see your primary care doctor.’ ”
He believes that this approach can have a significant impact, “especially for those aged 20-40, because the doctor they pay the most attention to may be their MS clinician.”
Dr. Bowling said that he receives royalties from a book he authored, “Optimal Health With Multiple Sclerosis.”
NASHVILLE, TENN. – Some patients use multiple sclerosis as an excuse to make poor health choices, but Allen C. Bowling, MD, PhD, of the Colorado Neurological Institute has seen another kind of story unfold. Fifteen to 20 years ago, Dr. Bowling said, he treated patients who took the development of MS in their 20s as a sign they needed to take better care of themselves. “They said MS was the best thing that happened to them ‘because it motivated me to make these healthy lifestyle changes I wouldn’t have made otherwise.’ ”
These patients have maintained their lifestyle changes, he said, lowering their risk of comorbidities and – perhaps – changing the course of their MS for the better.
“It’s all one machine, and sometimes we lose sight of that in our sub-sub-specialized world of treating MS ... You’re caring for a whole person. If you start thinking about that, it does make you think differently about how you treat the person, how you try to prevent disease in terms of certain pathways,” Dr. Bowling said in an interview at the annual meeting of the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers, where he spoke to colleagues about the importance of helping patients to adopt lifestyle changes.
According to Dr. Bowling, there’s evidence linking lifestyle-related comorbidities, poorer food quality, and tobacco use to higher levels of overall MS risk, relapses, disability, and symptoms.
Researchers have also linked other life factors to higher MS risks: obesity (linked to overall MS risk, disability, symptoms); lack of physical activity (linked to relapses, disability, symptoms); emotional factors (relapses, symptoms); and alcohol overuse (linked to overall risk, disability, symptoms).
“Data is mild to moderate to strong in all those areas for lifestyle approaches like diet, physical activity, emotional health, alcohol in moderation or less, and no tobacco smoking,” Dr. Bowling said.
He said he believes physical activity leads to “much higher and earlier success than diet” in MS patients, although there’s no confirmed “best exercise.”
As for nutrition, he said vitamins D and B12 are possibly beneficial. But he cautioned against the potential for harm from supplements and added that there’s no proven best diet for MS.
As for finding time to address these issues in clinic, Dr. Bowling recommended mentioning various lifestyle issues over multiple office visits.
“Some of the effort should be switched to the primary care doctor,” he said, “but you can use a strong collection of words to convey to the person with MS that this is serious: ‘It’s not MS, but it’s a serious issue, and you must see your primary care doctor.’ ”
He believes that this approach can have a significant impact, “especially for those aged 20-40, because the doctor they pay the most attention to may be their MS clinician.”
Dr. Bowling said that he receives royalties from a book he authored, “Optimal Health With Multiple Sclerosis.”
REPORTING FROM THE CMSC ANNUAL MEETING
