Nutritional intervention as an essential part of multiple sclerosis treatment?

Physiol Res. 2018 Aug 16;67(4):521-533. doi: 10.33549/physiolres.933694. Epub 2018 May 10.

Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory and demyelinating disease of the central nervous system. In addition to the genetic, epigenetic and immunological components, various other factors, e.g. unhealthy dietary habits, play a role in the MS pathogenesis. Dietary intervention is a highly appealing approach, as it presents a simple and relatively low risk method to potentially improve outcomes in patients with brain disorders in order to achieve remission and improvement of clinical status, well-being and life expectancy of patients with MS. The importance of saturated fat intake restriction for the clinical status improvement of MS patients was pointed for the first time in 1950s. Recently, decreased risk of first clinical diagnosis of CNS demyelination associated with higher intake of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids particularly originating from fish was reported. Only few clinical trials have been performed to address the question of the role of dietary intervention, such is e.g. low saturated fat diet in MS treatment. This review summarizes current knowledge about the effect of different dietary approaches (diets low in saturated fat and dietary supplements such as fish oil, lipoic acid, omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, seeds oils, high fiber diet, vitamin D, etc.) on neurological signs, patient's well-being, physical and inflammatory status. So far the results are not conclusive, therefore much more research is needed to confirm and to understand the effectiveness of these dietary interventions in the long term and well defined studies.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Dietary Supplements
  • Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / administration & dosage
  • Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / metabolism
  • Feeding Behavior / physiology*
  • Fish Oils / administration & dosage
  • Fish Oils / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Multiple Sclerosis / diagnosis
  • Multiple Sclerosis / diet therapy*
  • Multiple Sclerosis / metabolism*
  • Plant Oils / administration & dosage
  • Plant Oils / metabolism
  • Risk Reduction Behavior*
  • Treatment Outcome

Substances

  • Fatty Acids, Omega-3
  • Fish Oils
  • Plant Oils