Ten years ago, Dr Jonathan White marched into his local A&E and told the front desk: ‘I need an MRI scan – I think I’ve got MS.’
Also known as multiple sclerosis, the incurable degenerative disease occurs when the immune system goes haywire and begins to attack the brain and spinal cord nerves.
It causes significant, permanent disability in around a third of patients.
Many sufferers wait as long as three years for a diagnosis – because the first signs of the condition, such as fatigue or numb limbs, are often dismissed or mistaken for other issues.
But for Jonathan, who was 31 at the time, a diagnosis came in a matter of weeks due to his expert knowledge of the disease’s early symptoms.
Today, the father-of-two from Dundonald, Northern Ireland, is in good health, which he credits in part to his speedy diagnosis as well as a series of simple lifestyle changes.
Charities are now urging people to look out for the early symptoms and for newly diagnosed MS patients to follow the same steps to keep the disease at bay.
The first sign, Jonathan says, was blurred vision, which he initially blamed on his contact lenses.
Ten years ago, Dr Jonathan White marched into his local A&E and told the front desk: ‘I need an MRI scan – I think I’ve got MS’
‘It was only mild, and there was some pain when I looked to the side,’ he says. ‘I got new contact lenses hoping that would fix the problem, but it didn’t. But even after that, I still ignored the issue for a week or two more.’
However, it was while at a wedding with his wife Jenny that Jonathan realised he might have MS.
‘I bent my neck forward and suddenly felt this intense buzzing sensation shoot from my hips down to my feet. It was like having five or ten phones vibrating in my pocket at once.’
Jonathan, an obstetrics and gynaecology specialist, recognised the symptom from his medical training. It even had a name: Lhermitte’s sign, a sudden buzzing or pain that starts in the spine and spreads to the legs.
And, Jonathan remembered, it is a common symptom of MS.
The following day, after finishing a night shift, he went to the emergency department at the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald and asked to be checked for the disease.
Within days, he underwent an MRI scan, which showed the early stages of damage to his brain and spinal cord. Six weeks later, after more tests, he received an official diagnosis: relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.
The first sign, Jonathan says, was blurred vision, which he initially blamed on his contact lenses
This is the most common form of MS, where patients go months without symptoms but then suddenly suffer flare-ups.
During these periods, patients may experience extreme fatigue, vision problems, a loss of balance, muscle cramps, sexual problems and issues with memory.
Of the 130,000 people in the UK living with MS, around 85 per cent have the relapsing-remitting form. A minority of patients have primary progressive MS, where symptoms slowly worsen over time.
Others develop secondary progressive MS – where symptoms steadily become more severe. In some cases, relapsing-remitting MS can progress into this form.
For these patients, the disease can lead to severe disabilities – including the inability to walk or eat unaided. In the most serious cases, MS can be life-threatening.
There is no cure for MS, but medicines are available that can reduce flare-ups and slow the progression of the disease.
Jonathan was prescribed a monthly injection called ofatumumab, which is designed to destroy rogue immune cells that could harm the brain and spinal cord.
However, when he asked his specialist if there were any lifestyle changes he should make to reduce the risk of the MS worsening, he was surprised by the answer.
‘I asked if there was anything else I should be doing in terms of diet, exercise or stress management and was told no,’ says Jonathan. ‘The doctor said there’s no evidence for any of that – just take the medicine and hope for the best.
‘I just knew that it couldn’t be right that there’s nothing else but the medication. I had to do some digging for myself.’
There is no cure for MS, but medicines are available that can reduce flare-ups and slow the progression of the disease
Jonathan’s search led him to the book Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis, by Professor George Jelinek, an Australian MS expert.
In the book, Professor Jelinek recommends eating a largely plant-based diet, cutting out saturated fats such as fatty meat, butter, cheese and cream, taking daily vitamin D supplements, as well as doing regular physical activity and practising stress management techniques like meditation.
Jonathan says that until then he had not spent much time thinking about his diet or exercise routine.
‘I was probably similar to your average young professional in their early 30s,’ he says. ‘Training in the NHS is demanding, you work hard and eating was often about convenience. I would eat lots of processed food, cheese and meat, and ready meals.
‘I’d go out on my bike occasionally but it was easy to make excuses and not go,’ he says. ‘And I didn’t really have any outlet for my stress.’
Today, Jonathan has radically shifted his lifestyle habits.
‘We don’t eat meat or dairy and focus on fish and whole foods,’ he says. ‘I do a mix of cardio and strength training – lots of cycling, both indoors and outdoors, plus resistance bands, weights, stretching and yoga.’
The UK has one of the highest rates of MS, although Canada tops the list with 291 cases per 100,000 people
He has also taken up meditation to help manage stress, using specialist apps Calm and Headspace, and made sleep a priority.
‘By about 10pm in our house it’s lights out,’ he says. ‘Sleep hygiene is a real focus – a cooler bedroom, avoiding blue light from screens and trying to maximise both quality and quantity.’
Jonathan credits these lifestyle changes with his good health. While he occasionally suffers flare-ups, he is generally well and has been able to keep up his demanding NHS job.
‘I’ve been told I’m doing better than expected by the doctors,’ he says. ‘My neurologist once said I was “an example to people with MS”, and she’s very hopeful that I will remain well.’
Studies suggest that a healthy diet may reduce the risk of disease progression over seven-and-a-half years by as much as 50 per cent.
Other research indicates that regular exercise or physical activity may reduce the likelihood of relapse in some people with MS.
However, according to the charity Overcoming MS, many patients are unaware of the benefits of these lifestyle changes because the NHS is failing to tell them.
‘Lifestyle changes, while not a cure, can and do make a real difference to symptoms and quality of life for people living with MS,’ says Alexandra Holden, chief executive of Overcoming MS.
‘Yet too many people don’t know this, or find information about it in a haphazard way.’
Jonathan agrees. ‘MS does not have to be a death sentence,’ he says.
‘There’s so much that can be done to change the trajectory of your own disease and the condition itself. There’s no reason why many people with MS can’t live a very full, happy and fulfilled life. I certainly do.’
