Multiple Sclerosis (“MS”) affects more than two million people per year. A disease striking the central nervous system, MS patients present with symptoms including loss of vision, fatigue, decreased muscle control, as well as numbness, particularly in the extremities. Symptoms can vary widely from person to person.
On initial examination the origin of these symptoms is often unclear. Conventional medicine bases its diagnosis on an MRI in conjunction with the “traditional” multiple sclerosis symptoms. An MRI will inevitably show demyelination, or a breakdown of the fatty substance shielding the nerves. Once this demyelination is detected and typical symptoms are confirmed, the diagnosis is made. The problem is that no one asks the basic question – why has this shield broken down in the first place?
Unlike in conventional medicine, we do ask this question. We look for the root cause of the problem first, and begin there in an effort to rebuild the myelin sheath surrounding the nerve fibers. While MS may be irreversible, at Paracelsus we are confident in being able to arrest the deterioration that this disease will otherwise cause.
The real puzzle in this disease is not demyelination, which occurs naturally, but the lack of remyelination. The process is analogous to that of our bones, which are consistently being destroyed and rebuilt.
MS is in essence a failure of this rebuilding. We therefore engage in intensive study of the individual patient. And what we are seeing in these particular individuals is an exaggerated inflammatory state behind everything. The sheath itself is a phospholipid with long chain carbohydrates and essential fatty acids. But with MS patients, hyperacidity and oxidated fatty acids are contributing to the overall breakdown in the insulating nerve barrier. It’s basically an inflammatory process, similar to the breakdown of bone health in osteoporosis, and the inflammation is feeding the condition.
Recognizing this as a primary, if not the primary cause of the demyelination, our approach seeks to rebuild this myelin sheath over an extended period of time. The patients who come into our clinic generally exhibit four specific issues: elevated oxidated fatty acids, chronic oxidative stress, low omega 3s, and toxicity. In attempting to encourage remyelination, we have designed a program that attacks the causal factors of the demyelination in the first place. Unlike conventional medicine, we are not simply stressing “managing symptoms” or just managing the patient’s deterioration. We are actually working to rebuild that which was lost, and so created the problem to begin with.
Generally this healing process spans a period of about two years. Patients begin with an intense detoxification program and are subsequently given IV infusions in an effort to accelerate recovery, as many MS patients have been shown to exhibit impaired detoxification and antioxidative capacities. We emphasize a course of supplements and a diet tailored to each individual patient. What we have found through years of studies and tests is that the myelin sheath is reparable and can, when treated correctly, rebuild itself.
Our approach is simply about asking the basic questions. Where conventional medicine falls short especially in terms of treating MS, is in its focus on managing symptoms, and on its philosophy of encouraging patients to “learn to live” with the increasingly debilitating effects of the disease rather than on getting to the core of how the disease began in the first place. Customized for every single patient, our approach to MS treatment is a truly biological one.