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MS: “Alternative” Therapies
MS may hold the record for generating the most non standard “alternative” (sometimes called nonconventional or wholistic) therapies of any neurological disorder. This is probably because MS, unlike many neurological diseases, has spontaneous exacerbations and remissions. Thus, any “treatment” used for MS may be followed by an improvement (remission). While the improvement may have been spontaneous (that is it would have happened without the “treatment”), it’s easy to claim that the “treatment” caused the improvement. In MS it is therefore extremely important to conduct well controlled randomized clinical trials on a sufficient number of patients before any claims of effectiveness can be made. FDA approved treatments have all undergone this type of testing. Some “unapproved” treatments have as well. Few “alternative” therapies have anything to support their use except anectodal reports.
For a great overview on alternative therapies in MS, how to evaluate the potential risks and benefits, and an overview if the medical evidence of some of the more popular of the alternative therapies, see Alternative Therapies Overview from the NMSS.
Information regarding some of the more frequently asked about alternative and complementary therapies I get questions about are (click on highlighted areas for links):
The NMSS Web site is probably the best overall site for general information about “accepted” and not so accepted MS treatments and the evidence behind them.
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