A UB professor is testing the concept that exercise may actually help improve energy levels in sufferers of multiple sclerosis, a condition whose symptoms include consistent fatigue.
Nadine Fisher, a UB assistant professor of occupational therapy, and some of her colleagues came up with the idea for this study 10 years ago, but at the time not many other researchers were persuaded.
"They thought we were kind of crazy," said Fisher. But in the last two to three years, Fisher and her assistants have begun preliminary research that has proven the benefits of exercise even for people suffering from MS.
"Now everyone knows exercise is good, it just depends on how you do it with people who have MS," she said.
The study is being funded by a $450,000 grant from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research - part of a larger contribution from the U.S. Department of Education - and seeks to evaluate the value of exercise in improving muscular strength and endurance, while the work-related tasks are being conducted to analyze workday fatigue.
Fisher explained that due to the fatigue that comes as a result of MS, it is difficult for people to perform normal roles during the workday, as well as at home. "What we're trying to do is assess how people with MS fatigue during the normal eight-hour workday," said Fisher.
"The tests will assess the participants' quality of daily living," said Carl Granger, professor of rehabilitation medicine and co-investigator on the study. Areas to be evaluated include physical activities, emotion, pain, social interaction and capability of performing tasks, whether professional, domestic or recreational.
The testing of neuromuscular, cardiovascular and cognitive function will take place at the beginning and end of each day, as well as the next morning. Researchers will be able to determine if progress was made among participants at the end of the day, and whether they recovered overnight.
A group of 60 people, made up primarily of women 30 to 60 years of age, will participate. Approximately 15 to 20 of the participants will be men, to account for the higher percentage of women with MS.
Participants will be categorized into four main groups, the first of which will be a supervised group who will be given specific exercises and activities to do, weekly, at the lab. A second group will be the "home base" group, which will live at home and perform routine daily activities in addition to the exercises assigned.
The third functional retraining group will conduct normal activities at home, with no exercise. The remaining group will function as a control group by doing "nothing," nor will it engage in any assigned exercise.
Granger said that people diagnosed with MS get progressively worse over time. "We'd be ahead of the game if [participants] don't get worse, or better overtime," said Granger. "We're dealing with a complex illness."
The exercise and related activities will take place at the Rehabilitation Physiology Lab, located in the basement of Kimball Tower on South Campus. Weightlifting, stretching and walking are a few of the activities that will be conducted. Participants will also do work on computers and perform other "work related" tasks.
Jacobs Neurological Institute and Kaleida Health, an umbrella organization of Buffalo General Hospital, are assisting in the study..
Carol Brownscheidle, Ph.D., clinical assistant professor of rehabilitation medicine and neurology here at UB, also participated in the study. One of the original participating investigators on the study, MS researcher Lawrence Jacobs, M.D., passed away late last year.
