MS Brain: I have been told by the doctors that I have some scarring in my brain because of Multiple Sclerosis, but is there anything that can help to improve how well our brains function, regardless of the problems that Multiple Sclerosis lesions can cause to the Brain? The answer is YES!!
The statement “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” is pretty much what the medical community used to think about how our brains function. They used to think that the neural pathways in the brain developed as we aged, but after a certain point that the pathways became fixed and unchangeable. Medical science is changing their tune about this. There are a group of neureoscientists from different countries that came together for a joint effort project where they did further research on how the brain functions. What they found is that the brain can be retrained because it is more “plastic” and changeable than they thought before.
Multiple Sclerosis Brain Exercises can help to improve more than just the Brain, but how does this work?
Exercising the brain is like exercising muscles. If the brain is exercised in certain ways, that target particular parts of the brain, then the neural pathways can be redeveloped and retrained to make the brain actually work better. If done over a period of time these “Brain Exercises” can actually help the brain to become “stronger” or have more developed neural pathways that actually can help the brain, and the rest of the body start to function better again.
How does this help in the case of Multiple Sclerosis brain function problems?
This is good news for those that have been affected by the symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis, because the brain is the master controller for the body because the brain sends signals to the rest of the body to tell it how to function. There are several things that can help retrain the brain in different ways, but some things need to be done in a doctor's office and some can be done at home.
Examples of what I am talking about are EEG Biofeedback and LENS (a different form of Biofeedback).
Both EEG and LENS Biofeedback are performed in a doctor's office. I've personally under gone periodic sessions with both EEG and LENS Biofeedbacks over a few years time and it has dramatically improved how well my brain has been functioning, from my first visit. EEG Biofeedback is performed by placing sensors on the forehead, while LENS is performed by placing sensors on the scalp in various locations on the head. Both EEG and LENS Biofeedbacks are used to stimulate and retrain the brain in different ways, depending on what is more helpful for the patient, based on their brain function problems. In EEG Biofeedback, the brain responses are amplified and fed to a computer program, specifically designed for use with EEG Biofeedback that uses graphical tracking of the brain response and tones to help retrain the brain's responses to increase them above a base reference line. If the response of the brain drops below the baseline, then a tone is given off. Either a movie or a video game can also be used during the EEG Biofeedback sessions, to help to retrain the brain, to increase the response of the brain.
Sessions of using the LENS, have been found to help improve the brain function and ability of the MS patient to function in different ways that can help the person improve with cognitive function, improve their ability to stand and balance, reduce the over reaction of the nervous system to stress, reduce the problems with one side of the body being weaker than the other, and help to reduce otherr symptoms that are typically associated with MS.
Another thing that I have found are a few software programs that you purchase and install on your computer that use brain exercises to retrain the brain that are targeted to help strengthen and improve how well different parts of the brain can function. This can be done at home, allowing you to be able to set your own schedule as to when and how often you have set for yourself to actually do these exercises. These brain exercises need to be done on a regular basis, just like working out at a gym, for the person to see any measureable results. The various brain exercises don't help as much if they are not done on a regular basis.
For more information about what Alternative and Natural ways that I have found that reduce symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis, go to http://www.TamingMultipleSclerosis.com/ to learn more.
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Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
MS Brain: What Can Help to Reduce Cognitive Brain Function Problems Resulting from Multiple Sclerosis Attacking the Brain?
MS brain function problems can be a big problem for allowing us to be able to function from day to day after being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.
Multiple Sclerosis can cause scaring in the brain or possibly even some damage to the neurons in the brain, which can result in several sets of “symptoms” that can make it difficult to function each day. Daily tasks may become more difficult for the person who has been given the diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis, especially if the brain function problems are more moderate to severe.
Cognitive problems, which are often associated with the MS brain, can include misinterpreting what other people say to you, misinterpreting what you read, being easily confused by things that previously were relatively easy for you (prior to MS), scrambling what you see or read (dyslexia), losing track of what you are talking about in the middle of a sentence, being unable to figure things out (compared to before MS), in addition to memory problems (long term and short term) – to the point where you write yourself a To Do list and don’t remember that you even wrote the list!
These cognitive problems can be mild to severe in nature. Depending on how strongly you are affected, you may still be able to function on your own, to some degree, or you may need more assistance for some daily tasks. If you have more severe cognitive problems, you may end up being more disabled, either from a brain function point of view or maybe even physically disabled, making it difficult or almost impossible for you to function on your own.
How the brain functions can be affected by symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis, including how we can misinterpret the information that we take in through our 5 senses (seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching). Our brains are composed predominantly of a large concentration of nerve cells (possibly around 80 to 90 percent of the brain) and our bodies are at least 50 percent of nerve cells. Since MS can cause scarring or nerve damage throughout much of the body, this decreases how well our central nervous system, including the brain, can function enough to interpret the huge amount of information that enters into our brains through the outside world. If we misunderstand or misinterpret some or much of the information that our brains gather, on a daily basis, this can make it very difficult for us to understand the world around us and connect with people and all living and non-living things in the world that we live in.
This can also be unnerving and maybe even frightening for those of us battling with Multiple Sclerosis symptoms, depending on how mild or severe the scarring and/or nerve damage, resulting from MS is for each of our particular cases of Multiple Sclerosis. The scarring or nerve damage can block the signals from the brain to the other parts of the body, or it can even cause certain parts of the brain to function very little.
The medical community, overall, used to think that the brain became fixed in the way that it functioned as you grew older and this made it impossible to change anything when it came to how our brains tend to decline in functionality as both our bodies and our brains age. But within the last few years, medical research decided to test a different theory and what they found was astounding! The medical researchers have found, based on their own research, that the brain is much more “plastic”, than they thought that it was previously. They have found that the brain can be exercised, like a muscle and they have come up with a set of “Brain Exercises” that can help to retrain the brain.
This is GREAT news for those of us that have been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, because this means, that even if you have some scarring in your brain, as a result of the scarring caused by MS, the brain can be retrained and adapt to return functionality back to our brains by redeveloping neural pathways that allow the signals to travel between different parts of the brain to help it to function better again.
Click on the link to read more -- MS brain
***
Multiple Sclerosis can cause scaring in the brain or possibly even some damage to the neurons in the brain, which can result in several sets of “symptoms” that can make it difficult to function each day. Daily tasks may become more difficult for the person who has been given the diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis, especially if the brain function problems are more moderate to severe.
Cognitive problems, which are often associated with the MS brain, can include misinterpreting what other people say to you, misinterpreting what you read, being easily confused by things that previously were relatively easy for you (prior to MS), scrambling what you see or read (dyslexia), losing track of what you are talking about in the middle of a sentence, being unable to figure things out (compared to before MS), in addition to memory problems (long term and short term) – to the point where you write yourself a To Do list and don’t remember that you even wrote the list!
These cognitive problems can be mild to severe in nature. Depending on how strongly you are affected, you may still be able to function on your own, to some degree, or you may need more assistance for some daily tasks. If you have more severe cognitive problems, you may end up being more disabled, either from a brain function point of view or maybe even physically disabled, making it difficult or almost impossible for you to function on your own.
How the brain functions can be affected by symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis, including how we can misinterpret the information that we take in through our 5 senses (seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching). Our brains are composed predominantly of a large concentration of nerve cells (possibly around 80 to 90 percent of the brain) and our bodies are at least 50 percent of nerve cells. Since MS can cause scarring or nerve damage throughout much of the body, this decreases how well our central nervous system, including the brain, can function enough to interpret the huge amount of information that enters into our brains through the outside world. If we misunderstand or misinterpret some or much of the information that our brains gather, on a daily basis, this can make it very difficult for us to understand the world around us and connect with people and all living and non-living things in the world that we live in.
This can also be unnerving and maybe even frightening for those of us battling with Multiple Sclerosis symptoms, depending on how mild or severe the scarring and/or nerve damage, resulting from MS is for each of our particular cases of Multiple Sclerosis. The scarring or nerve damage can block the signals from the brain to the other parts of the body, or it can even cause certain parts of the brain to function very little.
The medical community, overall, used to think that the brain became fixed in the way that it functioned as you grew older and this made it impossible to change anything when it came to how our brains tend to decline in functionality as both our bodies and our brains age. But within the last few years, medical research decided to test a different theory and what they found was astounding! The medical researchers have found, based on their own research, that the brain is much more “plastic”, than they thought that it was previously. They have found that the brain can be exercised, like a muscle and they have come up with a set of “Brain Exercises” that can help to retrain the brain.
This is GREAT news for those of us that have been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, because this means, that even if you have some scarring in your brain, as a result of the scarring caused by MS, the brain can be retrained and adapt to return functionality back to our brains by redeveloping neural pathways that allow the signals to travel between different parts of the brain to help it to function better again.
Click on the link to read more -- MS brain
***
Monday, October 27, 2008
What Are Multiple Sclerosis Spasms, Multiple Sclerosis Tremors, and Multiple Sclerosis Twitching? Can Anything Help Reduce MS Spasticity?
What are Multiple Sclerosis Spasms, Multiple Sclerosis Twitching
or Multiple Sclerosis Tremors?
People diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis often have
questions about the MS spasms, twitches, tremors
or tics that they tend to get way too often.
Spasms, twitching, tremors or tics are pretty much
similar to each other, where there are uncontrollable
movements of the arms, legs, hands or feet that can
be anywhere from mild to severe in their intensity
or frequency.
The spasms, twitches or tremors can sometimes appear
in the shoulder, neck or face too, but this isn't as
common for the spasms to appear in these areas as
it is for the spasms to appear in the arms, legs,
hands or feet.
Involuntary means that the muscles can move
on their own, without any effort on your part
and without you being able to control these
movements.
This looks like the knee jerk response that you see
when a doctor checks your reflexes by tapping your
knee with a small rubber hammer.
Click on the link to read more -- Multiple Sclerosis spasms
Please leave us your comments and let us know
if you found this information helpful to you!
***
or Multiple Sclerosis Tremors?
People diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis often have
questions about the MS spasms, twitches, tremors
or tics that they tend to get way too often.
Spasms, twitching, tremors or tics are pretty much
similar to each other, where there are uncontrollable
movements of the arms, legs, hands or feet that can
be anywhere from mild to severe in their intensity
or frequency.
The spasms, twitches or tremors can sometimes appear
in the shoulder, neck or face too, but this isn't as
common for the spasms to appear in these areas as
it is for the spasms to appear in the arms, legs,
hands or feet.
Involuntary means that the muscles can move
on their own, without any effort on your part
and without you being able to control these
movements.
This looks like the knee jerk response that you see
when a doctor checks your reflexes by tapping your
knee with a small rubber hammer.
Click on the link to read more -- Multiple Sclerosis spasms
Please leave us your comments and let us know
if you found this information helpful to you!
***
Sunday, October 26, 2008
MS Pain: Can anything Help Reduce the Pain?
MS Pain, or ms nerve pain -- in my opinion, is one of the toughest symptoms to “live with” that can be associated with some cases of Multiple Sclerosis
It appears that sometimes the scarring that remains after MS attacks the nerves throughout the brain and the spinal cord, or maybe even any other nerves throughout the body, can sometimes result in an over stimulation of nerves. This over reactive response of the nerves can cause a feedback type affect, that over stimulates the pain center of the brain and can result in intense MS nerve pain.
Click on the link to read more -- MS pain
If you have any comments, suggestions or tips that may also help with helping to find ways to reduce MS pain, leave us a comment to help others find relief to the pain that they may be experiencing because of Multiple Sclerosis.
***
What are the Effects of MS on Vision?
What Multiple Sclerosis Vision problems are commonly reported after people have been diagnosed with MS?
MS Vision problems can include problems with focusing, dimness of your vision (it appears like someone turned the lights down very low -- making it difficult to see), foggy vision (you’re looking through a fog), double vision or over strained eyes and difficulty focusing. To compound the eye problem, if certain other conditions, like candida albicans, are also part of your particular case of MS, then floating fuzz before your eyes can also be present. If any of these symptoms persist or become bothersome, see your medical doctor and ask which type of scans can be performed to test your optic nerves to see if damage or any scarring to the optic nerve may be present. Also discuss with your doctor if an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) test is needed to scan the brain for the presence of MS scarring to see if there is scarring present in the parts of the brain that may trigger eye pain that you can also be battling with.
What are the Multiple Sclerosis Eye problems that can be associated with MS? In addition to Vision problems, MS can also cause other Eye problems, including MS eye pain and possible scarring or maybe even nerve damage to the optic nerve, that can also affect vision.
Eye pain by itself, is not necessarily MultipleSclerosis, since there are other conditions that can also involve eye pain, but if you haven’t been diagnosed with MS and you have other symptoms, besides the eye pain, you should see a doctor to be evaluated to see if Multiple Schlerosis may be the cause of your symptoms. Doctors use MRI testing to evaluated people to determine if scarring is present in the brain or on the myelin sheath on the spinal cord (this is called demyelinization of the spinal cord).
Multiple Sclerosis is the term that is used, when multiple plaques or scarring is present in the brain, on the spinal cord or is present in other nerves thoughout the body, that can sometimes include the retinal nerve. Often Muliple Sclerosis can attack the myelin sheath that protects and insulates the spinal cord and cause demyelinization that results in the presence of scarring to the damaged nerves.
If you have already been diagnosed with MS, there may or may not be scarring present in the optic nerve. Sometimes MS brain scarring results from the M S attacking nerves throughout the body, that can be almost anywhere in the body. M S can even attack and cause damage to the optic nerve. This can either create scarring that interferes with the signal from the brain to the eyes that can cause problems with vision or the damage caused by Multiple Scerosis can cause the nerve signals to become confused and over stimulated, resulting in MS eye pain. The eye pain can result, even if there is no visible scarring on any of the test results for the optic nerve itself.
MS Vision problems can include problems with focusing, dimness of your vision (it appears like someone turned the lights down very low -- making it difficult to see), foggy vision (you’re looking through a fog), double vision or over strained eyes and difficulty focusing. To compound the eye problem, if certain other conditions, like candida albicans, are also part of your particular case of MS, then floating fuzz before your eyes can also be present. If any of these symptoms persist or become bothersome, see your medical doctor and ask which type of scans can be performed to test your optic nerves to see if damage or any scarring to the optic nerve may be present. Also discuss with your doctor if an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) test is needed to scan the brain for the presence of MS scarring to see if there is scarring present in the parts of the brain that may trigger eye pain that you can also be battling with.
What are the Multiple Sclerosis Eye problems that can be associated with MS? In addition to Vision problems, MS can also cause other Eye problems, including MS eye pain and possible scarring or maybe even nerve damage to the optic nerve, that can also affect vision.
Eye pain by itself, is not necessarily MultipleSclerosis, since there are other conditions that can also involve eye pain, but if you haven’t been diagnosed with MS and you have other symptoms, besides the eye pain, you should see a doctor to be evaluated to see if Multiple Schlerosis may be the cause of your symptoms. Doctors use MRI testing to evaluated people to determine if scarring is present in the brain or on the myelin sheath on the spinal cord (this is called demyelinization of the spinal cord).
Multiple Sclerosis is the term that is used, when multiple plaques or scarring is present in the brain, on the spinal cord or is present in other nerves thoughout the body, that can sometimes include the retinal nerve. Often Muliple Sclerosis can attack the myelin sheath that protects and insulates the spinal cord and cause demyelinization that results in the presence of scarring to the damaged nerves.
If you have already been diagnosed with MS, there may or may not be scarring present in the optic nerve. Sometimes MS brain scarring results from the M S attacking nerves throughout the body, that can be almost anywhere in the body. M S can even attack and cause damage to the optic nerve. This can either create scarring that interferes with the signal from the brain to the eyes that can cause problems with vision or the damage caused by Multiple Scerosis can cause the nerve signals to become confused and over stimulated, resulting in MS eye pain. The eye pain can result, even if there is no visible scarring on any of the test results for the optic nerve itself.
I, myslf, first experienced eye pain, just before I was given the Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis. After I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, the doctors had a scan done on both of my optic nerves, to see if any scarring was present. The retinal scans revealed that there was no scarring with my optic nerves.
When I had the scan done for testing my retinal nerves, the test was performed by having me sit in front of a monitor, which had changing patterns, colors and shapes on the screen that were flashing. This was to test the response of my optic nerves. Since technology is advancing so quickly, the test itself most likely is different now, than when I had it performed on me.
Can anything be done to help reduce MS vision problems that are often associated with MS? Well, I have tried many things to deal with what I went through. I found that taking the herb, Bilberry, helps to improve blood flow to the eyes, reducing the problems with the dimness. Taking the green sea algae, called, Chlorella, also helped. I also found out within the first few years of my diagnosis of MS, that I had a problem with elevated levels of Mercury (a heavy metal) and taking the Chorella helps to reduce the levels of heavy metals in our bodies, especially mercury. Mercury, at higher levels in our bodies, loves to attack nerves and it can also nerve damage, similar to the nerve damage that occurs in most cases of MS.
Our brains have no way to detoxify for toxins, including heavy metals. Our brains are protected by what is called the Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) to prevent toxins from attacking the brain. The Blood Brain Barrier is a membrane that surrounds the brain. If the BBB is damaged, then heavy metals and other toxins can enter the brain and wreak havoc on the brain. Heavy metals can attack nerve tissue and cause nerve damage, with mercury being the worst offender. Elevated levels of mercury, a heavy metal, can punch holes in the BBB, and allow other toxins to enter into the brain. This is not a good thing, since the brain has no natural ways of detoxifying from toxins that can enter the brain, once the BBB has been compromised. This damage to the BBB because of mercury attacking the nerves throughout the body, may possibly set our brains up for the scarring that is seen on ms brain mri tests, but no one really knows this for sure.
Was this information helpful?
To learn more about what I have learned that has helped reduce my symptoms of MS, go to http://www.TamingMultipleSclerosis.com/ for information.
***
Can anything be done to help reduce MS vision problems that are often associated with MS? Well, I have tried many things to deal with what I went through. I found that taking the herb, Bilberry, helps to improve blood flow to the eyes, reducing the problems with the dimness. Taking the green sea algae, called, Chlorella, also helped. I also found out within the first few years of my diagnosis of MS, that I had a problem with elevated levels of Mercury (a heavy metal) and taking the Chorella helps to reduce the levels of heavy metals in our bodies, especially mercury. Mercury, at higher levels in our bodies, loves to attack nerves and it can also nerve damage, similar to the nerve damage that occurs in most cases of MS.
Our brains have no way to detoxify for toxins, including heavy metals. Our brains are protected by what is called the Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) to prevent toxins from attacking the brain. The Blood Brain Barrier is a membrane that surrounds the brain. If the BBB is damaged, then heavy metals and other toxins can enter the brain and wreak havoc on the brain. Heavy metals can attack nerve tissue and cause nerve damage, with mercury being the worst offender. Elevated levels of mercury, a heavy metal, can punch holes in the BBB, and allow other toxins to enter into the brain. This is not a good thing, since the brain has no natural ways of detoxifying from toxins that can enter the brain, once the BBB has been compromised. This damage to the BBB because of mercury attacking the nerves throughout the body, may possibly set our brains up for the scarring that is seen on ms brain mri tests, but no one really knows this for sure.
Was this information helpful?
To learn more about what I have learned that has helped reduce my symptoms of MS, go to http://www.TamingMultipleSclerosis.com/ for information.
***
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