Healthy lifestyle – Raising the Bar workstream

Background

There is increasing evidence that we need to look at a wider picture of a person’s health, wellness and lifestyle, including nutrition, movement, sleep and stress.

In MS, we know that:

• stress can trigger relapse,
• movement can improve MS fatigue better than medication,
• quality sleep aids cognition, mood, immune health and autophagy
• eating non-processed, natural food is linked to improved mental and physical health across a range of conditions (e.g. SMILES)

The challenge of how we can share this information well, and encourage people with MS to take control of their lifestyles is becoming an essential aspect of treatment, not solely self-management.

What the workstream is doing

The ultimate goal for the workstream is for healthy lifestyle practices and self-management to be built into the core care pathway for MS, from diagnosis onwards. Find out more from lead Dr Agne Straukiene.

How can I get involved?

Complete the 6-question survey to help us understand how often general health checks and lifestyle and wellness discussions form part of your work with MS patients.

Establish a ‘disease-modifying lifestyle’ clinic in your locality. All the resources you need to begin either a virtual or in-person clinic are there.

If you decide to use the resources to run a clinic, please let us know.

Meet the workstream leads

Workstream members

Colin Bannon, Grazina Berry, Samantha Josephs, Miranda Sweet, Daisy Cam, Patricia Henry, Andrea Stennett, Anna Hawkins, Leonora Fisniku, Caroline Holbrook, Sarah Dronfield, Dom Thorpe, William Adams, Mathew Sweet, Diana Crowe

Find out more