Exercise & MS, huge study - Getting the Balance Right

Wonderfulworld · Post by **Wonderfulworld** » Sat Oct 17, 2009 8:09 am

A huge study ran in Ireland for the last 2 years called "Getting the Balance Right".

It explored the impact of different forms of exercise on MS - relapse rates, falls, information retrieval, fatigue etc.

Each person was given a full physio assessment and this was repeated 3 times for the duration of the study.

The results are available here: http://tinyurl.com/yfjfoc2

I loved it! - I was in the yoga group and it definitely made an impact on my physical and emotional well-being.

Post by **euphoniaa** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 6:59 am

Thanks for the link, WW. I'm a major proponent of exercise and I love it when research shows its benefits for MS patients. I just forwarded the link to a group where I work that received approval for a similar (but MUCH smaller and less professional) study planned around here, to evaluate the therapeutic needs of the local MS patients (I work full-time at a university).

I've been waiting to get the 'call' for an initial evaluation to see if I can fit into their study. My initial take on their basic premise, however, seemed a bit like how the area's therapy community can help the stereotypically poor, pitiful, MS patients and teach them a tiny exercise or two to improve their enormous fatigue and therefore their Quality of Life.

It seems that an awful lot of the study will be to offer "lessons" to all of us helpless, sheltered, clueless, brain-scrambled people to teach us what exercise is, what fatigue is, convincing us that exercise is actually good for sick people... It seems like such an elementary, uninformed approach.

Maybe I can help show them the enormous diversity in MS patients. Or maybe I'll end up being excused - not for exercising too much already, but just for my smartass attitude.

After years of exercise, I'm not sure I could ramp it down enough to fit the study criteria.

It's not that I don't have physical problems (I use a cane & stuff), but I've already experimented with every kind of exercise, PT, and OT and incorporated as much of it as possible into my MS life. I'd love to be in a study, but I'd have to refuse to be in the non-exercise arm of it for fear my entire body/brain/mood/fatigue would deteriorate to nothing.

I'm glad you've had such great results from your own routines WW, and thanks for posting about it.

Wonderfulworld · Post by **Wonderfulworld** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 2:17 am

Euphonia I love your smartass attitude!!
I find the same in the approach of the MS society here sometimes. That courses offered are all for the one type of people, at the one time, and assuming the same level of knowledge or awareness.

Yes the study you mention does sound a bit basic. Who needs to be taught what fatigue is for goodness' sake? Being part of the non-exercise arm would be detrimental to you I'd say. In the study, it said that any improvement was not sustained after 3 months of inactivity.

One thing that gets to me is that most MS exercise classes are run during the day - excluding those who work or who are working in the home. I am a stay-at-home mother at present, and even day classes do not suit me. The bit breakthrough for me was that my Yoga class runs in the evenings, so at that stage my hubby's home, and I can go and then just go to bed afterwards.

The other BIG thing that gets to me is that if a drugs company found something that helped PPMS/RRMS relapse rates, falling risk, walking speed, information processing, fatigue and mood - it would be out there, marketed to the hilt. Because it's physio classes (I'd imagine the social aspect of a class counts for a lot too vs. a physio appt for one person) there's a kind of tumbleweed silence now...................