If multiple sclerosis has left you with a sagging quality of life, try pumping iron, suggest experts in a new study.1 Doctors at the University of Florida led by Lesley White, PhD, a professor of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology, say lifting weights can boost muscle strength and quality of life for MS patients.
"This is the first published report using a conventional weight-training program for patients with MS," White explained. "We designed an exercise program to develop muscle strength because MS causes muscle weakness and fatigue, which contribute to a declining cycle of fitness, loss of mobility and decreased quality of life."
Weight Training Provided Better Strength
The study found that after 8 weeks of supervised resistance training on conventional gym equipment, 8 people with MS had stronger muscles, could walk better, and reported fewer episodes of fatigue and disability.
The results of this preliminary study have led the National MS Society to sponsor an ongoing follow-up study that tracks 10 people with the disease who are undergoing more intensive strength training for a total of 16 weeks. The new study includes more total repetitions, thus increasing the overall training load on the participants. Their results will be compared with a group of 10 people of similar age and body type without MS. These studies are the basis for future research aimed at investigating the mechanisms associated with changes in muscle strength associated with the disease that take place at the cellular level, White said.
Heat Sensitivity is Not an Issue
People with MS also often have a painfully increased sensitivity to heat. While previous studies on the effects of aerobic exercise have showed promise, the accompanying jump in body temperature can also aggravate their pain, experts say. Consequently, many physicians have been hesitant to prescribe exercise regimens as therapy, thinking it might do more harm than good, White says.
Strength training, however, does not generate the same sort of increases in body temperature that aerobic exercise does, and it focuses on one of the primary targets of multiple sclerosis: muscle mass. It was also minimally intensive. White says the study included no more than a half hour of weight training twice per week for 8 weeks, focusing on the legs, abdomen and lower back. For the research, each participant's initial weight load was determined from a pre-study strength test. Once the subjects could perform 15 repetitions with weights consistently, they were moved to a higher weight resistance.
"Fatigue is a huge factor for people afflicted with MS," said White. "Because no previous data on MS patients doing strength training with conventional gym equipment have been reported, we wanted to be a little conservative in our approach, and therefore designed a relatively low-intensity program."
But the results of the study showed that MS patients are easily able to adapt to resistance training, and can likely tolerate more intensive training, she said.
Spreading the Word
"We're very excited," said Jennifer Lee, president of the North Florida Chapter of the National MS Society. "Multiple sclerosis is such a complicated disease, which is why papers like this are so important. I feel like it will be our responsibility that this goes out to the doctors that we work with."
MS has no cure, though patients can take anti-inflammatory drugs to alleviate the severity and duration of attacks, as well as immunosuppressants to help counteract the progression of the disease.
While MS has been around for many years, therapies to effectively halt its advancement have only been available since 1994, Lee said. "The course and the treatment of MS have come so far in just a short period of time," she said.
The disease is also being diagnosed at younger ages now more than ever, perhaps because doctors have been improving their ability to recognize symptoms, Lee speculated. Patients are often in their 20s or 30s at diagnosis.
"The ability to gain control over part of your disease is very important for people with MS," explained Lee, "especially because it's diagnosed at such a young age. They're just starting to gain control over their lives in their 20s and 30s."
1. White LJ, McCoy SC, Castellano V et al. Resistance training improves strength and functional capacity in persons with multiple sclerosis. Mult Scler 2004 Dec;10(6):668-74.
John Martin is a long-time health journalist and an editor for Priority Healthcare. His credits include coverage of health news for the website of Fox Television's The Health Network, and articles for the New York Post and other consumer and trade publications.
