Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease that affects the brain and spinal cord and disrupts the flow of information between the two. Basically, the body's immune system attacks its own tissue. My favorite math teacher in high school married a woman with MS and it definitely took a toll on him, which showed in class from time to time.
In MS patients, atrophy of the hippocampus affects about 50% of patients, which is linked to deficits in memory. Unfortunately, there are no known treatments for this disease as of yet. This article discusses how aerobic exercise might be an effective way to improve memory in MS patients.
A team of researchers in Neuropsychology & Neuroscience at Kessler Foundation conducted a study on two MS patients who were randomly assigned to aerobic and non-aerobic exercise conditions. The procedure consisted of 30 minute workout sessions, 3 times a week, for 3 months. Before assessments were taken for comparison before the treatment and follow up assessments were taken afterwards for comparison. The data was measured by MRIs, fMRIs, and memory assessments. The study concluded that aerobic exercise resulted in a 16.5% hippocampal volume and a 53.7% increase in memory as compared to non-aerobic exercises which showed minimal changes in memory.
In my opinion, these findings are significant. However, the study was only conducted on two MS patients, so future studies need to be done to confirm these findings. Also, aerobic exercise can be done almost anywhere at anytime and is a self-administered treatment so there is no harm in MS patients trying aerobic exercise to increase their memory!
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131101125506.htm
I agree in saying that these findings are significant. One of my cousins has MS and it's definitely difficult for her at times. I think that a 53.7% increase in memory is fantastic and I think this data supports other findings that exercise in general is good for the mind and body. Hopefully, exercise was also able to do other things like decrease pain or increase their spirits! In future studies, they should test to see what else changed as a result of exercise, like mood.
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