Is Multiple Sclerosis Genetic or not?

Multiple Sclerosis Genetics

The medical community has been considering if there may be a genetic factor that can contribute to the presence of Multiple Sclerosis in the body.

MS Research covers a broad range of the possible causes of Multiple Sclerosis, which includes doing research on seeing if they can locate a particular gene or pairs of genes that may be responsible for setting up the body to attack itself and result in the presence of the nerve damage and scarring that is a result
from MS.

Since the MS Research is still in the process of being performed, it is too early to tell if there is a Multiple Sclerosis genetic link that is setting up the body to attack itself as if it is a foreign invader.  The research in inconclusive at this point, but there is also the idea that genetics may play a role in setting up the body for it to be attacked by something else that can itself cause the MS nerve damage that results in many of the cases of MS.

I have found, while doing my own research on MS, that there is much more of the probability that Multiple Sclerosis starts out not being related to genetics.  But the way it works that when a woman with MS is pregnant that during the pregnancy any damage to the mother's chromosomes have a much higher probability of influencing the type of damage that can be replicated in the baby's chromosomes that can be passed on to the baby.  If generation after generation passes on the damaged genes, then yes, MS can become a genetic disorder. But, from my point of view, I don’t think that it necessarily starts out as a genetic disorder, unless there are other members of your family from either the same generation or from different generations that are related in some way (examples would be your grandfather, grandmother, aunt, uncle, cousins, mother, father, brother or sister).

Click on the link to read more -- Genetics and MS.

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What is Multiple Sclerosis?

What is Multiple Sclerosis?

Multiple Sclerosis is considered by the medical community to be an autoimmune disorder, where the body becomes confused in some way to where it attacks itself, as if it is a foreign invader that the body needs to defend itself against.

Multiple Sclerosis is a term that covers a broad range of MS symptoms that are not usually the same or may not even be similar from one case of Multiple Sclerosis to the next. Since there appears not to be any 2 cases of MS that are alike, in the severity, frequency and combination of the broad range of MS symptoms that are being experienced, this has resulted in there being several theories as to the suspected cause or causes of Multiple Sclerosis.

Click on the link to read more -- What is Multiple Sclerosis

If you find any of this information helpful, or you disagree wth any of the information presented here, leave us your comments and let us know what you think!


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MS, Nerve Dysfunction, and Passing Out

Multiple Sclerosis can set us up for many physical problems, which can vary from case to case. This can sometimes result in more unusual MS symptoms appearing, which may not be considered as something that we would typically associate with Multiple S or MultipleSclerosis

The Multiple Sclerosis symptoms can affect many different parts of the bodies and cause us to function less than we would have been able to function before Multiple Scerosis entered our lives.

Sometimes Mutiple Scerosis can also cause our bodies to do some things that even the doctors are confused, amazed or even stumped by.

My particular case of MS is one of those kinds of cases of Multiple Sclorosis, that sometimes surprises the doctors with how confused my nervous system appears to be sometimes. I sometimes have the weirdest symptoms of MS, at least from the doctor's point of view, that appear for a while and then just go away without any explanation appearing to shed any light on what was going on at that point.

Click on the link to read more - Passing Out and MS.

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How do MS patients React to Heat and Humidity?

Multiple Sclerosis Heat

Those that have been given the Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis can be affected very severely when in warm rooms or during the hot summer months and it can be more than unbearable to the MS patient to where the person can feel like they can’t breathe or they feel like passing out. Overheating is frequent and it is difficult for those with Multiple Sclerosis cool off. Saunas and hot tubs should be avoided by those that already have the Multiple Sclerosis symptom of over reacting to heat.

Multiple Sclerosis cooling

I guess it would be considered a treatment for Multiple Sclerosis when finding ways to cool off from the Multiple Sclerosis symptoms that can result from an over reaction to heat. Methods of cooling down can include using ice packs, drinking very cold or ice water, using MS cooling vest for MS patients and cooling hats, which have been specifically designed for those that have MS symptoms that include the heat sensitivity and staying in well air conditioned rooms. It is thought by the medical community that MS immune system is weakened and that the frequent overheating that many MS patients go through can be a result of frequent infections of many different kinds.

Click onthe link to read more - MS Heat and MS Humidity.

At what age does Multiple Sclerosis tend to occur?

Multiple sclerosis age:

At what age does Multiple Sclerosis tend to occur?

The onset of Multiple Sclerosis is typically in the late 20s to 40s, but this can vary some based on each of the 4 different types of Multiple Sclerosis.

The 4 types of Multiple Sclerosis that are recognized internationally are:

Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis or Remitting Multiple Sclerosis

Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis or Progressive MS

Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis

Progressive Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis

Since the number of cases of MS are increasing every year and appearing in more countries around the world, it has become a worlwide medical crisis that is drawing the attention of the medical comunities around the world to join forces in doing much more ms research in the hopes of finding a Multiple Sclerosis cure.

Click on the link to read more -- Types of MS .

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What New Discoveries are there in MS Research?

Multiple Sclerosis News

Multiple Sclerosis Research is advancing into some interesting areas. For example, did you know that our nervous systems have specific cells called glial cells that are designated as the nerve maintenance and repair cells for the entire nervous system?  The job of these cells is to repair damage to the myelin sheath along the spinal cord, that insulates and aids in the nerve signal transmission along the spinal cord. The nerve maintenance and repair cells also repair any damage to the Blood Brain Barrier or BBB, a membrane that surrounds and protects the brain from toxins being able to enter into the brain.

Multiple Sclerosis information:

Our brains can not defend themselves against toxins and once there is damage to the BBB and toxins enter the brain, the brain has none of its own ability to remove toxins that are not suppose to be there in the first place and this means that if the toxins that do enter the brain attack nerve cells, damage to the brain cells themselves can result.  MultipleSclerosis can attack nerve cells, including membranes, like the BBB, or any other nerve cells throughout the entire body.  This can include the mylein sheath that insulates and protects the spinal cord, the BBB brain, or any other nerves or membranes though out our bodies.

MS brain lesions are a result of the Multiple Sclerosis attacking the brain and causing scarring.  The scarring can actually interfere with brain functions, such as cognitive abilities, speech, writing and reading (since the brain interprets and reorganizes works for us to be able to make sense of what we can read and write), memory, recognizing faces, concepts and places we have been previously, and connecting with our surroundings.

Click on the link to read more -- New MS discoveries .

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Fatigue, Vitamin Deficiencies and MS

Multiple Sclerosis Fatigue:

Fatigue can be a major problem in connection with the majority of the cases of MS. The fatigue can be mild to much more severe to the point where it can be much more difficult for the person that has been given the diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis to function much at all.

Symptoms of MS can also include one or more of the following:

* weakened immune system and frequent infections

* spasms or twitches

* loss of bladder control (or incontinence)

* intense nerve pain that is either constant or comes and goes (that can be intense at one point
in the body or it can travel along the nerves like sciatica)

* numbness, tingling or pins and needles feelings often in the hands, arms, legs or feet

* problems with different parts of the body functioning as they should, this includes most parts of the body (arms, legs, hands, feet, etc.)

* vision, hearing or speech problems

and others. For each person that has been given the diagnosis of MS, any, all or none of the symptoms can be present.

These MS symptoms can be mild to severe for each case and can vary greatly in how severe or frequent relapses, attacks or exacerbations can appear.

Multiple Sclerosis and Vitamins: Certain vitamin deficiencies can cause more extreme fatigue, or can at least aggravate the problem of fatigue, making it appear to be much worse than it would be otherwise. It is highly recommended that you find a doctor that can test to see what your vitamin deficiencies may be for your particular case of MS to determine which vitamins may be needed for your own case of MS.

Click on the link to read more -- MS Fatigue and Vitamins.

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Reactions of Nerves, Passing Out and MS

What is Multiple Sclerosis?

Multiple Sclerosis is considered an autoimmune disorder where the body attacks itself and causes damage or demyleination of the spinal cord. Multiple Sclerosis demyelinating of the spinal cord can result in scarring or nerve damage along the spine, throughout the brain or throughout any area of the network of nerves throughout the body.

MultipleSclerosis causes scarring or “sclerosis” that can be a result of nerve damage that interrupts the transmission of the nerve signals throughout the body. This can include the disruption of nerve signals that are transmitted though out the body or the signal that travels through the spinal cord that sends instruction throughout the body on how each part of the body should be functioning.

Multiple Sclerosis symptoms or MS Symptoms can cause a broad range of symptoms that involve the eyes, the hands, arms, legs or feet in various ways. MS can cause numbness or pins and needles can result or a nerve pain that is either constant or come and goes. Depending on the degree of scarring or the degree that the nerve signals or confused the symptoms of ms can either be mild or severe.

Multiple sclerosis symptoms can also include multiple sclerosis nerve reactions, such as spasms, twitches or ticks that can be mild to severe that result in uncontrollable movements of the legs, feet, arms or hands.

Multiple sclerosis nerve responses feeling like passing out or definitely losing consciousness. This MS symptom can be aggravated by a few different things.

There are ways to reduce passing out and other over reactions of the nerves.

Click on the link to read more -- MS and Passing out .

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Yoga MS: How can Doing Yoga help those of us with Multiple Sclerosis?

Yoga MS: How can doing Yoga help, those of us with Multiple Sclerosis to function better again?

Physical activity and MS exercise are extremely important for individuals with Multiple Sclerosis. Yoga is becoming much more recognized as an excellent means of reducing the symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis,


Click on the link to read more -- yoga ms

Multiple Sclerosis is an autoimmune disease in which the body's defensive immune system attacks and destroys the fatty tissue, called myelin, which surrounds the nerves in the brain and spinal cord. These myelin sheaths perform the same function as insulation around an electrical wire. Without the myelin insulation, nerve impulses from brain to body can short out and become confused, misdirected, or be completely blocked.

Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms can include numbness and/or tingling in the extremities, weakness, lack of coordination and/or balance, gait difficulties, slurring of speech, blurred or double vision, bowel and bladder dysfunction, vertigo, and heat intolerance.

Physical activity and MS exercise is extremely important for individuals with MS, and yoga is now recognized as an excellent means of reducing the symptoms of MS and helping with management of Multiple Sclerosis symptoms, whether the individual manifests little or no outward signs of the disease, or whether they spend most of their time in a wheelchair.

Yoga MS, a holistic fitness exercise program, has been reported to give greater physical flexibility, less fatigue, pain relief, reduced stress and a sense of regaining control of their life. Yoga is gaining popularity as a complementary health approach, where the students’ physicians are recognizing yoga as an appropriate and safe treatment with potentially profound results.

Click on the link to read more -- Yoga for MS.

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How Energy Disturbances can Affect MS Symptoms

Electromagnetic Frequencies (EMFs) and Multiple Sclerosis:

Because we live in a world where many different forms of energy patterns are being transmitted around us, this has to impact our bodies in some way, since our bodies are electrochemical in nature. Because we have television signals, radio signals, microwave signals, cell phone signals, computer signals and many other electromagnetic energy signals transmitted by the many different types of electronic devices in the environment that surrounds our bodies, we have many things that our bodies may not be able to tolerate on a daily basis.

Stress and effect of worsening ms:

Electromagnetic frequencies (EMFs) can create disturbances that can influence our bodies adversely on a daily basis. The disturbances that result can include energy drains, energy surges, concentrated energy sources, scrambling of the energy fields surrounding our bodies, among other types of energy disturbances that can assault our bodies often on a daily basis. These are grouped together and called geopathic stress that can definitely affect our health adversely. Unfortunately, the average person may not know as much about this area as we should know about this area of EMFs, because the information about this area of concern is not well publicized or even explained to us much at all.

How does this affect Multiple Sclerosis symptoms?

Click on the link to read more -- MS Exacerbations and Electro Magnetic Disturbances.

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Social connections After being Diagnosed with MS

ms support or Social connections with MS

I don’t know about you, but this is a sensitive topic for me. I have found that in dealing with my own case of Multiple Sclerosis that because my case was so severe at the beginning, I went from being a very socially inactive and a physically active person to someone who was put on the side lines for a while and social interactions just dried up for a period of time. It isn’t like I had a choice in the matter.

The people that I related to very well before my first major ms attack attempted to still be part of my life at first, but they could no longer relate to me. I couldn’t do the things that I was able to do before the problems that I experienced on a daily basis because of the symptoms of multiple sclerosis that I had a very tough time with. My friends mostly evaporated within the first 2 years of me being given the diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis.

Click on the link to find out more -- ms support groups.

socialconnections-aftermsdiagnosis-article.html
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When it’s just One of those days with MS...

Multiple Sclerosis -- How do you “live with it”?

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been having some days, more recently, where I have really been struggling with having more problems with the bad days because of the symptoms of ms -- where I feel so horrible that it has been much more difficult for me to be even be able to get out of bed (it took me 90 minutes after I first woke up just for me to be able to get out of bed the other day).

What do you do, when it’s just “One of those days with Multiple Sclerosis”?

What do you do on the bad days for you to just to be able to function some?

You know what I mean…when you are battling with the symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis and you are having “one of those days”, where it seems like your body is fighting against you instead of working with you, how does this make you feel and what do you do about it?

Click on the link to read more -- Living with MS.

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What Types of MS are there?

Multiple Sclereosis types:

What are the different types of Multiple Sclerosis?

There are 4 types of Multiple Sclerosis that are recognized internationally. These 4 types of MS are categorized under different labels. It is thought that this may be done this way because some of the different types of MS appear to be related, but somehow different as far as their specific symptoms that tend to be characteristic of each type of Multiple Sclerosis certain disease progression.

Click on the link to read more -- Types of MS.

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Whole Body Vibration Exercise: How can it Help with Taming MS Symptoms?

Whole Body Vibration Exercise and MS:

What is whole body vibration exercise and can it help with reducing the symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis?

Whole body vibration uses sonic vibration that helps to exercise the muscles in a way that your body responds as if it is actually working out much more strenuously than it actually is, making the muscles increase muscle strength, as well as giving your body other benefits without over exerting that body.

In the case of Multiple Sclerosis fatigue can be a big factor that can make it more difficult for those with this diagnosis to exercise and still be able to end up with the benefits that we need to help us to be able to physically function better.

Can whole body vibration help with regenerating nerve cells, damaged by MS attacking the nerves?

The thinking of the medical community is changing more towards the idea that intense physical therapy or exercise can help to regenerate the nerves that are connected to the muscles that are being exercised in this way.

How does doing whole body vibration exercises help those of us that have been give the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis?

Click on the link to read more - whole body vibration exercises and ms.

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Vitamin D Multiple Sclerosis: Can Taking Extra Vitamin D Reduce Depression in MS?

Depression in Multiple Sclerosis cause big problems, since it increases the amount of stress that we are experiencing and stress has been found in MS research to contribute in a big way to causing MS attacks to become much worse in both frequency and severity.

When it comes to taking extra vitamin D Multiple Sclerosis can be kept at bay in a few different ways.

One of the ways that taking extra vitamin D can help those of with Multiple Sclerosis is to greatly reduce or possibly even eliminate depression in MS. There are a few different factors that can contribute to depression in Multiple Sclerosis.

Vitamin D has been found to have a protective factor, when it comes to Multiple Sclerosis, since it does help to prevent or at least reduce how often the MS attacks appear, in addition to reducing how severe the MS attacks and their effects on damaging nerves can become.

Vitamin D has a much more dramatic effect on helping to reduce the depression that can often be found in many cases of Multiple Sclerosis

SAD, depression Multiple Sclerosis:

What is Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and how does it affect those who have been with the diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis?

SAD is a seasonal depression that is more common than you think and it is based on how a person’s body reacts to the shortened periods of day light hours during the winter months. SAD can present a much worse dilemma for people that live in countries where they receive less day light hours per day than the average day light hours that a person receives that lives in a country closer to the equator.

vitamin d Multiple Sclerosis:

Our skin produces vitamin D as a response to the skin being exposed to the sun light. Our bodies need the increased levels of vitamin D to boost our immune system and make it easier for our bodies to be able to fight off infections. This is so much more vital to those of us that have been given the Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis, since Multiple Sclerosis sets us up for our immune systems to become much weaker to start with.

For those of us that have been given the diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis, it is so much more important for us to find a way to boost our vitamin D levels. I have found that for my own case of MS, that if I do find a way to increase my vitamin D levels, this reduces the number of infections that I end up having each month and it also reduces how frequent and how severe the infections can become when they do occur.

Our brains also produce more serotonin in response to the day light hours when we are up and about doing things during the day light hours, but being out in the sun works much better at boosting the serotonin levels. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that helps to regulate our sleep-wake cycles and helps us to maintain a regular sleep pattern. Ending up with enough sleep is so important for those of us that have been given the diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis for several reasons.

The majority of those us that are battling with Multiple Sclerosis have more problems already with decreased levels of serotonin and the problems of the reaction of our bodies to the shortened day light hours just adds to the problems that we already are experiencing because of the effects of MS on our bodies with reducing our serotonin levels.

Serotonin also helps to regulate mood and if the levels of serotonin in our brains drop too low, depression, anxiety and total unrest can result. If the serotonin deficiency is severe enough, the depression can become more severe to the point that it heads towards suicidal tendencies.

What can be done about this?

There are 2 options that I found that can help to reduce this problem.

One option is to take vitamin D tablets or softgels, as either dry vitamin D or as fish oil vitamin D. I tend to take the dry vitamin D in tablet form, so that I can take it in larger doses, as needed (this is recommended by my doctor, since vitamin D is NOT considered as toxic like some other vitamins are if taken at higher doses for longer periods of time).

The Second option is to purchase a device that uses what is called light therapy, which uses light that mimics natural sun light fairly closely that allows you to be able to use it to shine this light on your skin each day to boost vitamin D and serotonin levels in the body and to rid the body of SAD. The benefit of using this type of light is that it eliminates the effects of being exposed to ultra violet radiation that we also are exposed to when we sun bathe. Light therapy can actual help to reduce or maybe even eliminate depression in ms by elevating the amounts of serotonin in the brain, which helps to regulate mood.

Ultraviolet radiation from the sun is known for accelerating the aging process and causing sin cancer. Using the light therapy device allows you to eliminate the exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun, while allowing you to receive the benefits that would be generated in your body from your skin being exposed to sun light on a daily basis. It would be better if you can find a way to sit out in the sun without covering up all of you skin to allow your skin to be able to produce the serotonin and vitamin D that your body needs, but if finding the time and a way for you to get out in the sunlight enough during the day, this is a good alternative.

If you would like more information on the light therapy device that I discuss above or you would like to find out more about what Alternative and Natural ways that we have found that work for reducing the symptoms of MS go to http://www.TamingMultipleSclerosis.com/ to find out more.

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What are your Symptoms of MS?

What symptoms of MS do you find that you have been struggling with?

Do you find that Multiple Sclerosis is making it difficult for you to function on a daily basis, as you could before you were diagnosed with MS?

Have you found any Alternative or Natural ways that have helped to reduce your Multiple Sclerosis symptoms?

Would you like to describe for us what you have found that has helped reduce your symptoms of MS?

Are you looking for an alternative Multiple Sclerosis responds to for your symptoms of ms to be reduced?

We would love to hear from you about what your symptoms of MS are like so that we can provide you with further information on Alternative and Natural ways that we have found to reduce our own symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis that we have also been battling with for 12 years.

We want to do what we can to help you!

If you would like more information about the Alternative and Natural ways that we have found that reduce the symptoms of MS, go to http://www.TamingMultipleSclerosis.com/ to learn more.

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MS blog and MS information

What is an ms blog ?

It is a place you can go online when searching for more ms information .

Is a Multiple Sclerosis blog a good place to go for finding a particular kind of treatment for multiple sclerosis ?

It can be depending on what type of treatments you are looking for or considering for using for your own case of Multiple Sclerosis.

Can a Multiple Sclerosis Blog help me to find information on Alternative and Natural ways for reducing the symptoms of ms?

Our blog is focused on providing you with information on Alternative and Natural ways that have helped us with finding ways that do help to reduce the symptoms of ms .

Our goal is to help you find information that you can discuss with your doctor when searching for ways to reduce your own symptoms of ms.

Do you have any particular set of symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis that you have been having problems finding ways that can help bring you relief from this multiple sclerosis symptom that you would like us to discuss on our ms blog?

If you do have questions or any particular area that you would like more information about, then leave a comment after this post and let us know.

We would like to help you find the ms information that you are searching for to help you find ways for you to find relief to your ms symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis .

For further information on the Alternative and Natural ways that we have found that have helped to relieve our symptoms of MS go to http://www.TamingMultipleSclerosis.com/ to find out more.

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MS Symptoms and Alkalizing the Body

Diet and MS :

Many dietary changes are a major consideration for reducing the symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis . There are many ideas and theories as to which dietary changes can help to reduce the symptoms of MS. One of the considerations that may be valid for most cases of Multiple Sclerosis deals with Alkalizing the body.

Alkalizing -- this term refers to the pH of the body. pH is a scale where how chemicals both within the body and out side the body interact. The scale is from 0 to 14 with 0 being the strongest acid environment and 14 being the strongest alkaline environment. To give you something to compare to, water is typically considered neutral on the pH scale (from 6.5 to 7.5) with 7 being considered absolutely neutral. Our bodies should typically have a pH of between 6.5 and 8.

ms nutrition

Why does alkalizing the body matter at all? Well, it turns out that most infections (whether bacteria, viruses, parasites or fungal infections) require an acidic environment for them to be able to thrive and multiply. Infections love an acidic environment. If we can keep our bodies more neutral to alkaline for its overall pH, the majority of infections can’t survive.

Click on the link to read more -- 

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MS Brain Function and my own symptoms of MS

MS brain function problems are more of a common occurrance than you think.

Our brains are the master controllers for our entire body. When something, like Multiple Sclerois, causes scarring or damage to the brain, many things can be much more difficult for us to do on a daily basis or if the scarring is severe enough this can mean that our abilities to function are greatly reduced.

So much of what our bodies can do are so strongly affected by the scrambling or blocking of the nerve signals that the brain sends throughout the rest of the body that there can be a long list of the Multiple Sclerosis symptoms that can result.

Click on the link to read more -- MS brain


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MS Therapy: Can MS Equine Therapy or MS Horse Therapy Help with Learning to Walk Again After MS? MS?

Can MS equine therapy or MS horse therapy be used as a MS therapy for helping retrain a person to walk again after the effects of MS attacks on making it so that they can't walk for a longer period of time?

What is Equine or Horse Therapy ?

Equine or Horse therapy is where a series of exercises are performed, while the person is sitting or riding on a horse.

Exercising on the horse strengthens the muscles and increases balance, which allows the person to be able to stay on the horse without falling off. Once the person is able to balance on a horse, so that they don’t fall off, the therapists can lead the horse around, while the person undergoing therapy is sitting on it.

This helps to get the person used to the movement of walking again and can actually help to retrain the brain to get used to the movement and natural gait of walking again, even if the person is not able to physically walk for a period of time.

How can doing Horse or Equine Therapy help to reduce the symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis?

Click on the link to read more -- MS equine therapy

If you have found this information helpful or if you would like to add any other information related to the topic of this post, please us your comments. We would love to hear from you!

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Using Speech Therapy for MS

Although the Multiple sclerosis effects on the body can vary from case to case, there are some cases that can include stuttering, scrambling information (or dyslexia) or problems with slurring your words that can make it difficult for those, with the Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis, to be able to communicate with other people.

Speech therapy is a treatment for Multiple Sclerosis that can help to reduce the effects of MS on speech for those that have these problems with their particular case of MS by helping to retrain the speech center of the brain.

Speech therapy helps to retrain the Multiple Sclerosis brain for the person to be able to speak more clearly again, to reduce stuttering, slurring words or problems with forming words or being able to speak more clearly to make it easier to understand what the affected person is saying.

I have found two brain exercise programs that complement each other, that target specific parts of the brain, including the speech center, that help to redevelop neural pathways by exercising the parts of the brain that are often affected by the scarring or damage to the brain, that can be associated with MS.

These 2 programs, which can be installed on a computer, help retrain the brain through giving both auditory and visual instructions for being able to perform the exercises. If these brain exercises are done consistently over a period of time, they can strengthened and improved how well the brain can function positively to a more significant degree.

If you are interested in finding out more about what I have found that reduces the symptoms of MS, go to: http://www.TamingMultipleSclerosis.com/ to find out more.

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Can Aqua or Water Therapy Help with MS?

Multiple Sclerosis therapy:

Aquatic or water therapy, is one of the therapies, that is gaining more popularity with helping to give those with Multiple Sclerosis exercises, that they can do, without over exerting the body and making those with MS too exhausted. In some cases of Multiple Sclerosis, traditional physical therapy and other exercises can sometimes be too much for the person's body to tolerate. In these cases of MS, the result of doing more strenuous physical therapy just adds to the fatigue that is already present, without the person gaining all of the benefits of doing the exercises.

Exercising in a pool, with the water about waist deep, can help much more in many cases of Multiple Sclerosis by:

* Supporting the weight of the body
* Reducing over exertion and fatigue to Multiple Sclerosis patients
* Cushioning the impact on the joints
* Strengthening the muscles by increasing water resistance, that the muscles need to work against .

The exercises that are chosen, to be used in aqua therapy for MS patients, are chosen to target and strengthen specific muscle groups that can help to increase balance, increase muscle strength, increase flexibility and help to build up stamina and endurance.

More doctors are also finding that aqua or water therapy can help those diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis walk again, because if you can’t walk on land, you can still walk in a pool. This is possible because the water supports the weight of the body and the body does not have to compete against the pull of gravity for a person to be able to stand up and walk. The pool has to be at least waist deep for the person to walk, but it allows the body to practice walking again, even if you haven't been able to walk for several years.

For more information on other Alternative and Natural ways that I have found that help to reduce the symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis, go to: http://www.TamingMultipleSclerosis.com/ for more information.

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MS Physical Therapy: Physical and Other Therapies used for MS

Can MS physical therapy be used to help reduce the symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis?

Doing intense physical therapy with those that have been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis can help to reduce symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis and help to improve how well these people can function in many ways.

Some of the symptoms of MS that Physical therapy can help to improve include the following:

* reduce spasticity
* increase muscle strength
* increase muscle mass
* improve overall physical balance
* improve how well a person can stand by improving balance during movement
* improve how long a person with MS can stand before they have to sit down and rest, by improving endurance and stamina.

Click on the link to find out more - MS physical therapy

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What are the Signs and Symptoms of MS?

What is Multiple Sclerosis?

Multiple Sclerosis is considered to be an “autoimmune disorder”.

What does that mean?

This means that somehow the body, particularly the immune system and the central nervous systems, become confused or scrambled. Basically, the nerve signals become confused and the signals become crossed, which results in the body attacking itself, as if it is a "foreign invader" that it must protect itself against, instead of the immune system supporting the body, fighting off infections, and defending against foreign invaders, as it should be doing.

The majority of people that are diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis fall between the ages of 18 to 45 years old, although the average is more between 25 and 35. Although people can be diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at just about any age, this is more the average as to when the signs of MS typically begin to appear. The incident rate of Multiple Sclerosis tends to be higher in the countries that are located in the temperate zones, both above and below the equator, away from the tropical regions of the globe. I think it is curious that the higher incident rate of Multiple Sclerosis, also tends to occur in the more industrialized countries, which have more chemical plants, that produce large quantities of man-made or synthetic chemicals.

What are the signs and symptoms of MS ?

Typical signs of ms include, memory problems (which are often discounted initially as “being forgetful”, or some standing, walking or balancing problems may begin to appear. Odd pains, tingling or numbness may also appear and disappear over a period of time, with no apparent pattern or frequency as to when they appear or disappear. Vision problems may start to appear that can include focus problems, double vision, dimness, or maybe even eye pain. Cognitive problems may also appear including problems figuring things out (numbers, concepts, problems, and the like) -- that were not a problem for the person before the symptoms of MS began to appear. It may also start happening that the person, that may have Multiple Sclerosis, that hasn't been diagnosed yet, might start having problems understanding what they read or with difficulty understanding what people say to them. This can also contribute to a slower response time or more difficulties driving a car. Overwhelming fatigue might occur and stay for a while or it may come and go off and on for a period of time. Bladder incontinence or bladder control problems may also begin to occur.

When do these signs and symptoms of MS become symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis?

Typically these early signs grouped together are part of what may cause doctors to consider testing to see if the person may have Multiple Sclerosis. One test for Multiple Sclerosis, that can be performed to determine if this person has signs of Multiple Sclerosis, is done using a Magnetic Resonace Imaging or MRI machine. A MRI machine is used to do a series of scans on he body, where the person being tested is placed in a tube like device that is mostly enclosed, that can be used to scan part or the whole entire body, if need be.

More often than not, the scans for MS are done on the Brain and the Spinal cord and are used to determine the diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis. When the MRI testing is used for diagnosing MS, scarring appears on the films, and is most often seen as scarring in the brain or on the spinal cord. A spinal tap can also be performed, where fluid is drawn from the spine and is tested for the presence of protein markers, which are specific to the presence of Multiple Schlerosis.

If eye pain is also present, a retinal scan can also be performed to determine if scarring is present on the retinal nerve, which may be causing the eye pain. Typically, the patient is checked for brain tumors also, when the eye pain is present, to rule this out as a possibility or to differentiate between retinal scarring in MS compared to a brain tumor being present.

Once the person is diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, then the symptoms of ms are more officially labeled. Depending on how severe the scarring appears on the MRI test results, there may be a list of symptoms that can vary from mild to severe in intensity and frequency.

Next, the doctors consider what to do to treat Multiple Sclerosis symptoms.

Typically there are injectable drugs that are used for treating MS. But within the last 10 years, doctors are turning to more of a complimentary medical approach to treating Multiple Sclerosis, that includes the injectable drugs, along with intense physical therapy, dietary changes, vitamin and other food supplements, acupuncture, reflexology, massage therapy and a whole host of other Alternative and Natural ways to help reduce the symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis.

For more information about what Alternative and Natural ways that I have found that reduce my symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis, go to http://www.TamingMultipleSclerosis.com to learn more.


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MS walking, standing and balancing?

Can those of us who have been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis walk again? That’s an interesting question that appears to have many answers. I was told by the doctors, after I was first diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis…

So, how does it feel to have an “incurable disease” ?

What can you say to people, who say these kinds of things to you? I’m not sure, but I do know that somehow all of the many different Alternative and Natural ways that I have tried, tested and still use for me, while working closely with my team of doctors, of course (each doctor has their own specialty) -- has been gradually helping to resolve many of the more severe symptoms of MS that I was experiencing after I was first diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.

Is there a cure for Multiple Sclerosis?

I don’t know, but I figure anything that can help at all to relieve even some of my symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis -- is worth its weight in gold to me!

It can be difficult or sometimes it can seem almost impossible…on the worst days, to go on when your symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis are so severe and there appears…not to be any relief in sight. But I’m here to tell you, because I’m living proof, that we can’t just give up after we have been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, as if our lives are over. If we do that, we have much less of a chance of anything improving. Just keep fighting and searching for things that can help to relieve your own symptoms of MS and eventually you will find something that helps reduce your symptoms of MultipleSclerosis!

I’m NOT telling you to give up totally on doctors – that would be a very foolish thing to do. It’s just that there are so many different types of doctors out there, in the whole wide world that somehow, some way, we have to find the doctor (or doctors) that have more expertise and experience in working with whatever modality or way that you are considering pursuing as a potential way that may help to reduce your particular set of symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis.

I really believe that and I’m going to do what I can to give you much of the information about things that I have tried, tested and learned about, as far as the Alternative and Natural ways that are out there – that have helped me in the past, that CAN help to reduce even more of your particular set of symptoms of MS. It just might be that, along the way, this information might help you, working with your doctor of course, to help you find relief to your particular set of symptoms of MS too.

One thing that I MUST say is that any of the information that I discuss, about my particular case of Multiple Sclerosis, may not help everyone, because there is such a broad range of any combination of symptoms for each case of MS. No two cases are alike. This means that the information that I discuss has to be reviewed by your own licensed medical doctors and it needs to be decided by your own doctor, to determine if the information is an option for being used for your particular case of MS, for helping to reduce your symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis.

Because of my own “trial and error” period of time that I went through, while battling with a very severe case of Multiple Sclerosis -- I know what it is like -- firsthand – to be living with Multiple Sclerosis. My symptoms were so terrible for the first few years after I was diagnosed with MS, that I had so many days, that I just did not function. But in spite of all that I have been through, I’m determined to find whatever I can to help me be able to function again, even if it is a very gradual process for me to reach my goals, from a health point of view.
From a neurological point of view, my neurologist has determined, through performing another set of MRI tests on my spine that the major scarring, that was originally on my upper spine, is now totally gone – 12 years later!

The next phase is back to physical therapy. My neurologist sounds optimistic that sending me for intense physical therapy for 3 months, could improve how well I can balance, stand and walk. One step at a time, so to speak!

But in the process of what I have gone through, I have decided that I want to do what I can to let other people know more about what I have learned during my own battle with the symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis, that has helped to reduce my symptoms of MS and helped to gradually restore more function to my body, in the hopes that it will help others find relief from their own symptoms of MS. I still struggle with some symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis from, day to day, but the symptoms that I do have more of a problem with most recently are not as severe or frequent as right after I was first diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.

To find out more about what I have learned that has helped reduce the symptoms of MS, go to http://www.TamingMultipleSclerosis.com/ for information.

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MS Brain Exercise: Restoring Brain Function in MS

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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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

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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!

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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.

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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.

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.


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Skin Care and MS: Is this Really that Important?

It is very important for those of us who have been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis to do all that we can to take good care of our skin. This may not sound that important, but it is very important because healthy skin is our main barrier to protect us against infection. Since the majority of the people, which have been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, already have a compromised immune system or weakened immune system, it is especially important for us to do all that we can to minimize or reduce how often we tend to get infections. I realize that we just can’t go around being germ-a-phobic or paranoid about germs, since it is difficult to avoid living conditions that promote the presence or growth of germs, but we need to do what we can to minimize this potential problem for us.

If you have a problem with the skin on your arms, hands, legs or feet drying out and cracking, this sets you up to allow infection to have a direct way through the skin to enter your body and give set you up for frequent infections. Since those that have the symptoms of ms have a weakened immune system, this can set us up for experiencing a vicious cycle of one infection after the other, if we do what we can to take care of our skin.

I don’t know about you and your particular case of Multiple Sclerosis, but I have had a few periods of time where I had one infection after the other for 3 to 6 months at a time and whenever this occurred, I was not able to function enough to be able to do much of anything. What happens with MS is that our immune systems don’t recover very well after each infection we have and if we get a second infection and then a third, one after the other, this sets us up for a “snowball” type of effect that is a horrible vicious cycle that is difficult to break.

Taking antibiotics too often, creates another problem, sice this causes our bodies to become restant to the antibiotics so that they are much less effective in killing the infections. We need to do what we can to minimize infections and find other ways to boost our immune systems so that we don't need to take antibitics as ofen. This is NOT to say that we should avoid taking antibiotics, but I take more of the approach that the use of antibiotics should be more limited (if possible) to use for the more severe infections so that they are effective when we need them the most to come to our aid. I have been fighting against this problem for 12 years and I would like to do what I can to give you a few tips that may help ease this problem, as much as possible -- because it’s no fun when this visicous cycle of one infection after the other occurs.

What can help to reduce this problem of frequent infections?

I have found that first and foremost we need to take care of our skin every day. Washing as much of your skin every day with soap and water is a good start. Pay special attention to thoroughly wash your legs and feet. While doing this thorough cleaning of the skin, pay special attention to any cuts, scrapes or cracks in the skin. If you note any of these, wash the area thoroughly with soap and water, being sure to rinse off the soap, dry the area well and put some type of covering over it (bandage or gauze pads). If you need it, you can also use triple antibiotic ointment on the cut before bandaging it to prevent infection. If the skin around the cut appears to be inflamed or red, wash and dry the area and put the triple antibiotic ointment on it and keep it bandaged for a few days until it heals (make sure you change the bandage each day and clean it off each time and reapply the ointment).

Okay, what if you have dried out skin that is cracking, can anything help to reduce or prevent this from happening? I have tried all kinds of things for this problem, since I tend to have a much bigger problem with the skin on my hands and feet cracking during the winter months. I have tried all kinds of skin creams, lotions, etc. and none of these things helped much. So, try what I found that helps me, to see if it can help to resolve any problems you are experiencing with your skin drying out or cracking.

First, drink at least half a gallon (1.895 Liters - sorry, I don’t think in Liters) of water each day. If you tend to drink more water each day, that’s okay, just keep it less than 1 gallon (3.79 Liters) for each day. If you have any problems with either of your kidneys not functioning very well try to drink half a gallon 1.895 Liters) a day as a maximum. Tea, coffee and soft drinks don’t count, when you are figuring out how much water that you drank for the day. Tea and coffee can actually dehydrate the body, when consumed in larger quantities, and can add extra to the amount of water that your body needs for the day, to make up the difference.

Our public drinking water, where I live, definitely has chemicals in it (like chlorine, iodine, bromine and who knows what else) and it smells like chemicals. Should you drink bottled water? I don’t know that doing this is that much better. A better solution than purchasing bottled water is to get a combination reverse osmosis water filtering system that is called a “whole house” system. This means that where the water supply enters your house if where the filtering system should be installed. If you have well water, instead of public water, it might be a good idea to have your well water tested to see, generally speaking, what may be in your well water that should be removed. The type of filter needed, will be determined, based on the results of the laboratory analysis, to help you to decide what kind of filter that you will need.

Next, add extra virgin coconut oil daily to your food. This is easier to do if the food is hot, since this type of oil tends to be solid at room temperature (unless it’s above 85 degrees Fahrenheit) in the room or outside. I have found that 1 to 2 Tablespoon a day of organic extra virgin coconut oil helps me the best, but you have to determine for you how much it appears that you need to use. Adding extra virgin coconut oil to your diet will help to lubricate the skin from the inside out and as an added benefit, coconut oil helps the body to have an easier time digesting the other fats that you eat. If you have a more severe problem with the skin cracking, I would suggest adding the extra virgin coconut oil to your food, as well as spreading the coconut oil on your legs or where ever your skin is dry before going to bed at night.

I have tried all kinds of creams, lotions and ointments, before, but for me, even the vitamin E oil that was suggested to me a few times, did not help with relieving the problem that I had with my skin on my hands drying out and cracking. The extra virgin coconut oil works much better than anything else than I have tried, but if possible I suggest getting it organic, if you can, and purchasing it with nothing else added to it.

To find out more about what I have learned that has helped reduce the symptoms of MS, go to http://www.TamingMultipleSclerosis.com/ for information.

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