{"id":340346,"date":"2025-12-12T11:50:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T11:50:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/340346\/"},"modified":"2025-12-12T11:50:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T11:50:16","slug":"physical-activity-has-multiple-benefits-for-people-with-ms-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/340346\/","title":{"rendered":"Physical activity has multiple benefits for people with MS: Study"},"content":{"rendered":"

Regular physical activity<\/a> was independently linked to lower disability, fatigue, and depression over time in people with multiple sclerosis<\/a> (MS), a new study found.<\/p>\n

Other lifestyle factors also supported better outcomes. For example, eating a higher-quality diet<\/a> was independently associated with less disability, while not smoking was independently tied to lower depression scores, the data showed.<\/p>\n

People who practiced three or more lifestyle habits \u2014 such as being physically active, eating well, or not smoking \u2014 saw the greatest overall benefits.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese insights may guide personalised and sustainable lifestyle strategies for pwMS [people with MS] to mitigate specific clinical outcomes,\u201d the researchers wrote.<\/p>\n

The study, \u201cHealthy lifestyle is associated with reduced fatigue, depression, and disability over 5 years in people with multiple sclerosis<\/a>,\u201d was published in Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders.<\/p>\n

Recommended Reading<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Why researchers examined multiple lifestyle habits together<\/p>\n

Lifestyle habits<\/a> \u2014 such as being physically active, eating well, managing stress through meditation, not smoking, and getting enough vitamin D \u2014 have all been associated with better health outcomes in people with MS.<\/p>\n

Most past studies looked at these habits one at a time. To get a clearer picture, researchers in Australia examined five lifestyle habits together in a large group of MS patients.<\/p>\n

\u201cComparing lifestyle factors with the aim of understanding which factors have the strongest association with outcomes presents the opportunity to implement personalised lifestyle modifications based on symptoms relevant to the individual,\u201d the researchers wrote.<\/p>\n

The analysis included 839 adults with MS (83% women) who took part in an international observational study called Health Outcomes and Lifestyle in a Sample of pwMS. Participants completed an online survey at the start of the study, and again at 2.5 and five years, reporting demographics, clinical information, and five lifestyle habits.<\/p>\n

Diet quality was measured using a modified Dietary Habits Questionnaire, where higher scores reflected healthier eating patterns. Physical activity was assessed through the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form, a seven-day recall of walking frequency and duration, and moderate-to-vigorous activity. Regular activity meant doing at least 30 minutes of activity per day at any intensity, three or more days each week.<\/p>\n

The other lifestyle habits assessed were meditation, smoking status, and vitamin D intake, which included supplement use and intentional sun exposure.<\/p>\n

How the team measured disability, fatigue, and depression over time<\/p>\n

Researchers assessed three main health outcomes: disability, fatigue, and depression. Disability was measured using the Patient-Determined Disease Steps, fatigue using the Fatigue Severity Scale, and depression using the Patient Health Questionnaire-2.<\/p>\n

At baseline, a higher-quality diet and greater physical activity were independently associated with lower disability, fatigue, and depression scores. Not smoking and higher vitamin D intake were significantly associated with lower depression scores. Meditation did not show relationships with any of the health outcomes.<\/p>\n

Over time, greater physical activity was significantly associated with lower fatigue and disability at both 2.5 and five years, and lower depression at 2.5 years. At five years, not smoking was significantly tied to less depression, while a higher-quality diet was connected with less disability. Meditation and vitamin D intake were not prospectively associated with any outcomes.<\/p>\n

Engaging in multiple healthy lifestyle factors had cumulative benefits up to 5-years follow-up.<\/p>\n

When the researchers looked at lifestyle factors together, they found that people who engaged in three or more of the healthy habits at the start of the study reported less disability, fatigue, and depression.<\/p>\n

At the 2.5-year mark, having two or more healthy lifestyle factors was significantly linked to less fatigue, and having three or more was significantly linked to lower depression and disability. The biggest improvements were seen in people who used four of the five healthy habits.<\/p>\n

By five years, significant benefits remained only for people who maintained four or five healthy lifestyle habits. Those with three showed trends toward lower depression and disability. Overall, the effects were stronger at 2.5 years than at five years.<\/p>\n

\u201cPhysical activity was independently associated with all three clinical outcomes at 2.5-years,\u201d and \u201ctherefore ought to be encouraged,\u201d the researchers wrote. Also, \u201cengaging in multiple healthy lifestyle factors had cumulative benefits up to 5-years follow-up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cInterventional studies are needed to better define and quantify these individual and cumulative effects,\u201d the team concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Regular physical activity was independently linked to lower disability, fatigue, and depression over time in people with multiple…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":340347,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[49,48,407,84],"class_list":{"0":"post-340346","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-fitness","11":"tag-health"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=340346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/340347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=340346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=340346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}