Multiple sclerosis relapses are not associated with exercise

• Published in: Multiple sclerosis 2012-02, Vol.18 (2), p.232-235
• Main Authors: Tallner, A, Waschbisch, A, Wenny, I, Schwab, S, Hentschke, C, Pfeifer, K, Mäurer, M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Cross-Sectional Studies; Databases, Factual - statistics & numerical data; Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases; Disability Evaluation; Exercise - physiology; Female; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Motor Activity - physiology; Multiple sclerosis and variants. Guillain barré syndrome and other inflammatory polyneuropathies. Leukoencephalitis; Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting - physiopathology; Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting - therapy; Muscle Strength - physiology; Neurology; Recurrence
• ISSN: 1352-4585; 1477-0970
• DOI: 10.1177/1352458511415143

Since multiple sclerosis (MS) often affects physically active young individuals, it is important to know if exercise can result in increased disease activity. Therefore we used a self-report questionnaire to examine the relationship of different levels of sports activity and relapses in 632 patients with MS. In order to analyse whether subjective recall might have biased the results, we performed, in a subgroup of our sample, an objective assessment of clinical data and physical fitness parameters. We were unable to find any association between sports activity and clinical relapses in either of the two analyses. The group with highest activity even shows the lowermost mean values, standard deviations and range concerning the number of relapses. Our data suggest that physical activity has no significant influence on clinical disease activity.