Source: http://www.sonima.com/fitness/natural-remedies-for-ms/
Ingrid Adelsberger knows firsthand what multiple sclerosis (MS) looks like. Watching an immediate family member battle the condition as a child—an experience she does not feel comfortable discussing—makes her no stranger to the autoimmune disease that affects 2.3 million people worldwide. MS starts in the central nervous system, where the body’s immune system is believed to damage or destroy myelin, a protective coating that insulates nerve fibers. Without myelin, nerve impulses traveling from the brain to the spinal cord are disrupted, resulting in symptoms such as extreme fatigue, numbness, tingling, tremors, slurred speech, loss of balance and muscle co-ordination, loss of vision, and even paralysis. What exactly causes MS is unknown, and while it’s not directly hereditary, having a parent or sibling with MS does increase your risk of developing the disease, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Still, Adelsberger never suspected she would share this genetic fate—that is, until she received the devastating diagnosis at age 30 in March 2011.
“The diagnosis felt totally out of the blue. I had tingling in my arms, but I thought it was carpal tunnel syndrome. When an MRI revealed that I had lesions on my spine, my doctor told me the bad news and I felt my world crumble,” says Adelsberger, now 35, who was born in Vienna, Austria, but has been living and working as an event planner in New York City for more than…