A cold room helps MS patients exercise, and hopefully stabilize, suggests MUN research

New research from Memorial University could be part of a wave of change in the treatment of multiple sclerosis, says a professor who led a study into the benefits of exercising at reduced body temperatures.

Many MS patients avoid exercise because they easily overheat, said Michelle Ploughman, an assistant professor of medicine at Memorial University.

"Your symptoms feel a little bit worse and it can be very scary," said Ploughman, the university's Canada Research Chair in Neuroplasticity, Neurorehabilitation and Brain Recovery.

Researchers at Memorial University monitored multiple sclerosis patients as they exercised three times a week, for eight weeks, and found that the study participants who were able to exercise the hardest had the best neuroplasticity benefits. 

The findings are important because it provides some hope to MS patients that they can be stabilized, she said, something that represents the beginnings of a change in the information given to patients.

"I think that we're on the cusp of a wave," she said.

"I think there's a group of people thinking the same way."

What is multiple sclerosis?

"MS is an auto-immune deficiency disorder, which is a neurological disease, where the body actually attacks itself," said Jennifer Archer, an MS patient who participated in a study led by Ploughman.

The body attacks the myelin sheath, Archer said, which leads to a loss of nerve conduction that makes things like swallowing, seeing and walking difficult.

"The attack on the body is really profound."

Ploughman said she has been working with MS patients for about 30 years, and has often heard about how the condition affects their ability to exercise.

"I've heard from so many individuals … 'I wish I could exercise but I'm just too hot,'" she said.

She wanted to research whether cooling a patient's body helped them exercise, and how much cooling would be needed. 

The recent study included MS patients like Archer, as well as patients without the condition as a control group. Participants walked on a treadmill with a supportive harness in a room that was kept at 16 C, and the researchers examined the surface of the brain to look at how the nerves were conducting.

Eight of the patients in the group of 10 were able to tolerate the full treatment of 40 minutes, Ploughman said, and all of them improved their walking over the study period. 

"I just got stronger and healthier, and my depression went away, and my chronic pain is down," Archer said.

She didn't think she'd be able to do the full 40 minutes of exercise as part of the trial, but Archer said she could on the first day and over the study period she increased her pace.

"This study and doing the walking will really drastically change your life," she said. 

"Even if you don't think you can walk at all, you'd be surprised at what you can do."

Plans for more research

Ploughman hopes the research will be published in about six months, but also hopes it serves as a springboard to a large, randomized-control trial to test the treatment further. 

"We're very eager to publish this work, to use it as a launching pad to get more grants," she said.

There is no cure right now for MS but the findings so far, she said, offer hope that people with the condition may be able to stay walking longer and stabilize instead of continuing to decline.

Archer said she is familiar with that decline. After watching it happen with her mother and grandmother, who both had the condition, she felt it would be inevitable for her. 

Being part of this trial showed her that she doesn't have to have the same experience, and can even grow stronger, she said.

"I'm not afraid of my MS anymore, and that is huge."

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