Staying Healthy
A healthy lifestyle is an import part of anyone’s life. A good diet, exercise, relationships and social interaction are some of the facets of a lifestyle that can help anyone keep their mind and body healthy. For people with MS a good lifestyle is very important too. Keeping yourself as healthy as possible can alleviate some of the symptoms, delay disability and sustain your mental well being.
Managing symptoms for someone with MS is an important feature of staying healthy. By finding ways to deal with symptoms you can improve your health, reduce stress and maintain independence. There are a number of health professionals who can help and advise. It is always recommended that you keep in touch with your Neurologist as they will be able to refer you to others or provide information that will assist you.
Staying healthy is about recognising the way MS affects you and making choices that have a positive impact on your life and of the lives of those around you.
Diet and Nutrition
You might find that symptoms of MS affect what you can eat or how you prepare meals. Learning new ways of cooking, or using energy-saving tips can help you carry on eating what you enjoy. Adjusting to MS will not always mean changing your diet, but sometimes it can help. With careful planning, perhaps with the help of a dietician, you can make sure you meet your dietary needs – even if they change over time. Many people with MS report that they feel better when they eat well.
Everyone benefits from being physically fit, including people with MS. However MS affects you, there are exercises that can be helpful – to stay as healthy and fit as possible and to improve some of your symptoms and their effects. All kinds of physical movement can be of benefit. Physiotherapy can also be particularly useful, to help you find exercises that meet your specific needs and abilities.
Stress
Stress is a normal part of every day life. Not all stress is bad – getting married, having friends over for a meal, having a baby can all be sources of stress and yet are happy occasions that most of us would look forward to. However, too much stress can make it hard to cope with our normal day-to-day tasks. Prolonged or chronic stress can lead to ill health. One definition of stress that sums it up quite well is, stress is when the demands made upon us, physically and mentally, outweigh our ability to deal with them - resulting in reduced well-being.
