How Chiropractors Treat Mulltiple Sclerosis

 MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS (MS) is the most common disabling neurological disease of young adults, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), most often appearing when people are between 20 and 40 years old. However, it can also affect children and adults over 40. The U.S. National Library of Medicine defines MS as an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord). The myelin sheath, a protective membrane that wraps around the axon of a nerve cell, is destroyed in a patient with MS; this is caused by inflammation. That damage causes nerve signals to slow down or stop. MS affects women more than men.

Since doctors of chiropractic are recognized as primary contact neuromusculoskeletal specialists, most will have patients with undiagnosed MS come into their practices. The Multiple Sclerosis chiropractor will diagnose the patient, treat certain symptoms and make the appropriate referrals.

Symptoms

Multiple sclerosis signs and symptoms may differ greatly from person to person and over the course of the disease depending on the location of affected nerve fibers. Symptoms often affect movement, such as:

Numbness or weakness in one or more limbs that typically occurs on one side of your body at a time, or your legs and trunk

Electric-shock sensations that occur with certain neck movements, especially bending the neck forward 

Tremor, lack of coordination or unsteady gait

Vision problems are also common, including:

Partial or complete loss of vision, usually in one eye at a time, often with pain during eye movement

Prolonged double vision

Blurry vision

Multiple sclerosis symptoms may also include:

Slurred speech

Fatigue

Dizziness

Tingling or pain in parts of your body

Problems with sexual, bowel and bladder function

Causes

The cause of multiple sclerosis is unknown. It's considered an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system attacks its own tissues. In the case of MS, this immune system malfunction destroys the fatty substance that coats and protects nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord (myelin).

Myelin can be compared to the insulation coating on electrical wires. When the protective myelin is damaged and the nerve fiber is exposed, the messages that travel along that nerve fiber may be slowed or blocked.

It isn't clear why MS develops in some people and not others. A combination of genetics and environmental factors appears to be responsible.

Risk factors

These factors may increase your risk of developing multiple sclerosis:

Age. MS can occur at any age, but onset usually occurs around 20 and 40 years of age. However, younger and older people can be affected.

Sex. Women are more than two to three times as likely as men are to have relapsing-remitting MS.

Family history. If one of your parents or siblings has had MS, you are at higher risk of developing the disease.

Certain infections. A variety of viruses have been linked to MS, including Epstein-Barr, the virus that causes infectious mononucleosis.

Race. White people, particularly those of Northern European descent, are at highest risk of developing MS. People of Asian, African or Native American descent have the lowest risk.

Climate. MS is far more common in countries with temperate climates, including Canada, the northern United States, New Zealand, southeastern Australia and Europe.

Vitamin D. Having low levels of vitamin D and low exposure to sunlight is associated with a greater risk of MS.

Certain autoimmune diseases. You have a slightly higher risk of developing MS if you have other autoimmune disorders such as thyroid disease, pernicious anemia, psoriasis, type 1 diabetes or inflammatory bowel disease.

Smoking. Smokers who experience an initial event of symptoms that may signal MS are more likely than nonsmokers to develop a second event that confirms relapsing-remitting MS.

Chiropractic to Treat Chronic Pain in MS Patients

The study states that 5 to 10 percent of MS patients will enter a long-term care facility. The majority of MS patients suffer from some type of pain syndrome, which can be divided into three categories: acute, subacute or paroxysmal and chronic. Chronic pain syndromes have been anecdotally reported to respond to mechanical treatments. Chiropractic has shown efficacy in the treatment of chronic spinal pain. Chiropractic may represent a viable treatment option for the MS patient suffering from chronic pain syndromes. Preliminary findings from this clinic suggest that chiropractic may represent one treatment alternative for chronic pain in MS patients in a long-term care facility. Further studies will be needed to definitively determine the efficacy of chiropractic for the management of chronic pain in the MS patient.