Fight with Sport Multiple Sclerosis

Effect of sport could be promising in multiple sclerosis

03/26/2015

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common neurological disorder in young adults. It is usually found between the ages of 20 and 40 years. The disease can also be noticeable in childhood and adolescence. The affected people initially suffer mostly from MS attacks, which are accompanied by emotional disturbances, paralysis and lack of strength and occur in varying degrees. There is no cure yet, but research is making promising advances in the development of new drugs. However, little attention has been paid to sports in MS therapy. The head of a day clinic specifically focuses on physical activity for his patients with individualized sports programs.

Multiple sclerosis is very different
Most cases of multiple sclerosis (MS) occur in the first years in spurts. In the further course, however, the neurological disease often changes into a permanently progressive form. Typical symptoms of MS include neurological deficits such as sensory disturbances (tingling sensation and numbness), paralysis, weakness, tiredness, blurred vision, bladder disorders, and other motor disorders and spasticity of tone increases.

„Multiple sclerosis does not mean that you're sitting in a wheelchair tomorrow. This is a fallacy that unfortunately dominates the public image of the MS and distorts it in the direction of severe events, "emphasizes Professor Reinhard Hohlfeld of the Institute of Clinical Neuroimmunology of the University of Munich in conversation with the news agency „dpa“. The course is very individual. „Many people who have a mild or well-treated form of MS do not even see their condition, "said the doctor. „The MS can cause many different symptoms depending on which places in the nervous system are affected.“

Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease of the nervous system that attacks the myelin sheath of nerve fibers made up of fat and protein substances. If this shell is damaged, the signals can no longer be transmitted smoothly. As a result, it comes to those affected to neurological deficits.

According to the German Multiple Sclerosis Society (DMSG), around 2.5 million people worldwide have MS. In Germany there are around 130,000. Women are about twice as likely as men to be affected.

Medicines for multiple sclerosis often have strong side effects
In the treatment of MS, three areas are in focus: on the one hand there is the therapy of the acute epidemic of disease, on the other hand, the treatment of the symptoms occurring in each case. In addition, the long-term disease course should be favorably influenced by targeted therapeutic measures, so that further relapses are prevented as far as possible. „All in all, the spectrum of medications used to treat relapsing-remitting MS has become so great that you will find something suitable for most patients, "explains Hohlfeld. „However, the available substances are very expensive, and they usually have to be used for many years or even lifelong. "In addition, they do not cure the patient.However, despite the successes of recent years in MS therapy, it has been found that the risk The more potent the anti-inflammatory therapy is, the greater the likelihood of side effects for the person concerned, reports Professor Christoph Heesen of the Neurological Polyclinic of the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) to the news agency. „And the further the disease has progressed, the less these drugs bring. "

If the stage of the disease has already reached the chronically advancing phase, similarities to Parkinson's or Alzheimer's are found in MS. The degenerative processes in which the nerve cells are damaged without inflammation are then the essential disease feature. The anti-inflammatory drugs, which usually work well in the relapsing phase, do not work at this stage. „And a drug therapy with which you can rebuild these compounds, there is currently not, "Heesen explains.

New medicines and sports could have a positive influence on the disease process of multiple sclerosis
The medical director of a multiple sclerosis day clinic reports on a promising drug, the monoclonal antibody anti-LINGO, which was successfully tested in a phase II study. Also, the cholesterol-lowering simvastatin had achieved good results in studies in MS. In a Phase II study, the drug, which was previously only approved to control blood lipid levels, slowed the gradual loss of cerebral atrophy. However, it is not yet clear whether both drugs will actually be approved for the treatment of MS.

Heesen has an immediately practical tip for MS patients: „Even if the medical evidence is not overwhelming: We advise our patients to do sports and offer them an individualized sports program. "So far, the effect of sport on neurodegeneration has received too little attention and research, according to a separate study last year But after eight weeks of regular training on the ergometer, improvements in running and in terms of memory and ability to concentrate had already been observed by the patients.