A randomized pilot study of naturopathic medicine in multiple sclerosis.
BACKGROUND
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use is high in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), yet there are limited reports on safety and effectiveness of CAM in MS. Naturopathic medicine encompasses a broad range of CAM modalities and may improve quality of life in patients with MS.


OBJECTIVE
To assess quality of life in MS subjects who received interventions designed to "model" the "whole practice" of naturopathy.


METHODS
A pilot, randomized, controlled study with a 6-month intervention period.


METHODS
Participants who met criteria for clinically definite MS.


METHODS
The 3 intervention arms were usual care, naturopathic medicine plus usual care, and MS education plus usual care.


METHODS
The primary outcome measure was quality of life (36-item short form health survey [SF-36]). Secondary outcome measures included fatigue (Modified Fatigue Impact Scale); depression (Beck Depression Inventory); cognition battery (Stroop test and Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test 3), and neurologic impairment (Expanded Disability Status Scale [EDSS] and Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite). Adverse event reporting and laboratory measures were used to assess safety.


RESULTS
Forty-five (45) participants (15 per group) were randomized and all completed the 6-month intervention. There were no significant differences between groups on any outcome measure. There was a trend in favoring the naturopathic group in the General Health subscale of the SF-36 (p = 0.11), Timed Walk (p = 0.11), and neurologic impairment (EDSS) (p = 0.07). There was a trend favoring the Education group in the Stroop attention test (p = 0.07). There was no difference between groups in adverse events or laboratory changes.


CONCLUSIONS
Naturopathic medicine combined with usual care for MS showed a trend in improvement in the General Health subscale of the SF-36, Timed Walk, and neurologic impairment. Evaluation of naturopathic medicine, as a multimodality regimen, warrants further investigation.
Department of Neurology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239-3098, USA. shintol@ohsu.edu
Lynne
L
Shinto
Carlo
C
Calabrese
Cynthia
C
Morris
Vijayshree
V
Yadav
Debbie
D
Griffith
Rachel
R
Frank
Barry S
BS
Oken
Sara
S
Baldauf-Wagner
Dennis
D
Bourdette
D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D005221:Fatigue / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D009324:Naturopathy / Q000379:methods*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome