Brain Health & Well-being

At the Rocky Mountain MS Center, we believe that a multi-pronged treatment strategy to protect the brain and promote brain health offers the best chance to minimize the lifetime impact of MS.  The use of disease modifying therapies to rein in the damage MS does in the brain is one important part of this strategy. Other key components are regular physical and mental exercise, social engagement, and active participation in life to promote brain resilience and build cognitive reserve.

Wellness strategies to prevent the development of secondary medical problems like heart disease, obesity, and diabetes that strain the system and ultimately strain the brain, form the important third part of this approach. The core of these wellness strategies include healthy eating, exercise, stress management and adequate sleep.

Wellness is defined as the quality or state of being healthy in body and mind, especially as the result of deliberate effort. It’s important to remember that physical, emotional, spiritual, and social well-being can be achieved even in the presence of a chronic illness or disability.

Wellness is more than treatment of the disease — these strategies promote overall health that can help ensure ongoing MS treatments are as effective as possible.

Families dealing with MS can benefit from taking a comprehensive approach to maximizing wellness, and thus decreasing symptoms of MS while improving quality of life. Wellness also includes prevention strategies, healthy personal relationships, a strong support network, satisfying work and leisure activities, meaningful community involvement, and attention to one’s inner self.

In order to offer the best possible care and support to someone else, it is important that family members and caregivers also pay attention to their own health and wellness.

Below we’ve compiled information on several key components to overall Wellness.

• Exercise
• Healthy Eating
• Sleep
• Stress Management
• Emotional Wellbeing