Patients with multiple sclerosis often struggle with balance, bowel control, sensation, and other functions. Multiple sclerosis can dampen the quality of life, but Kulp Chiropractic Clinic, Inc. Nutrition & Wellness Center can help slow its progression. We use functional medicine for holistic treatment, not just to address symptoms.
What Is Multiple Sclerosis?
While the exact cause of multiple sclerosis (MS) hasn't been determined, doctors believe it’s an auto-immune condition that affects the central nervous system. If you have an auto-immune disease, your immune system attacks healthy tissues, like viruses or bacteria.
For patients with multiple sclerosis, the immune system attacks the myelin sheath, encases nerve fibers, and causes inflammation. Myelin facilitates a faster and more efficient relay of electrical signals in the nerves. When the myelin sustains scars in multiple places, it leaves a scar or lesions.
As the number of lesions increases, the nerve fibers become damaged, meaning electrical signals from the brain don’t reach the target areas as expected. As a result, your body can’t carry out certain body functions smoothly.
Symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis
Since multiple sclerosis affects the central nervous system, any body part can be affected. The common symptoms of multiple sclerosis include:
- Muscle weakness and spasms
- Numbness and tingling
- Bladder control
- Bowel problems
- Fatigue
- Loss of sex drive
- Learning and memory problems
- Vision changes
While the exact cause of MS is unknown, certain factors may increase the risk of this condition. For example, if you are a woman, smoker, have certain genetic features or are aged between 20 and 40, you are at an increased risk of multiple sclerosis.
How Is Multiple Sclerosis Diagnosed?
During the preliminary diagnosis of MS, our doctor will inquire about your medical history and scrutinize your symptoms. Then, we will carry out physical and neurological exams. Other further tests may include MRI and specialty scans.
Functional Medicine Support for Multiple Sclerosis
Functional medicine doesn’t just treat your symptoms. Instead, it looks at how body systems work and seeks to get them to function optimally. So, in simple terms, we treat the body as a whole, not just your symptoms.
Functional medicine addresses the root cause of your health challenges and devises a treatment plan to eliminate symptoms for a better quality of life. Functional medicine is based on the following pillars:
- Treating your gut
- Dietary changes
- Taming toxins
- Recovery from an infection
- Reducing stress
If you have been told you will live with multiple sclerosis for the rest of your life, functional medicine provides a way out. Functional medicine stabilizes your body functions for improved health, even for multiple sclerosis patients.
Nutritional health and wellness in Reading, PA
If you are in Reading, Pennsylvania, book an appointment with Kulp Chiropractic Clinic, Inc., Nutrition & Wellness Center, to treat multiple sclerosis and autoimmune diseases. Contact our clinic today at (610) 208-0404.