Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a disease where the immune system attacks the protective sheath that covers nerve fibers. These attacks cause a breakdown of that protective covering. MS interrupts communication between the body and brain and can affect a person’s ability to walk, see, concentrate, and feel their surroundings. Eventually, the damage is permanent, and the person with the condition can lose a lot of their ability to live independently. A 24-hour home care team will provide round-the-clock support or can simply help your loved one with daily tasks like homemaking and personal care.
While MS will first be diagnosed when a person is under the age of 40, it’s often once a person reaches a more advanced age that the damage done to their nerves has reached a point that they need more consistent care from either a loving caregiver or trained providers. There isn’t a cure for multiple sclerosis. A person’s treatment may mostly focus on recovery from attacks, reducing relapses, slowing the progression of the disease, and managing MS symptoms.
Four Tips for Keeping Your Loved One Feeling His Best
Provide Healthy Meals and Snacks
Eating well can make a huge difference in how your loved one manages his symptoms and even the intensity of his symptoms. If your loved one can maintain a healthy weight, it provides his body with more ability to fight off other infections and can reduce the risk of him developing other diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, that may make his MS worse.
The process of providing healthy meals and snacks is fairly easy. Reduce the number of processed foods, increase as much fresh food like vegetables and fruit, and prepare meals at home as much as possible so that you and your loved one can be in control of what gets added (like salt and fats) to each meal.
Encourage Regular Daily Exercise
Talk to your loved one’s doctor about what kind of exercise is best for your loved one and then encourage him to have at least 150 minutes each week of moderate-intensity exercise that gets his heart pumping and builds up strength and endurance.
Some health benefits of exercise for those with MS include:
- It reduces common MS symptoms like fatigue, anxiety, and depression
- It increases their ability to be mobile by improving balance, coordination, and flexibility.
- It can improve cognitive functions for those who find the disease affects their ability to remember or concentrate.
- It keeps other health disorders at bay, like high blood pressure, or diabetes.
Practice Good Bedtime Habits
Helping your loved one get a good night’s sleep is also important in helping him manage his MS symptoms. It is not uncommon for someone with MS to have a sleep disorder like insomnia. Encourage good habits both during the day and right before bedtime to help him sleep better and receive the health benefits that a good night’s rest can provide.
Get Him Help Around the Home
Despite all that you do, your loved one may still get to a point where he needs 24-hour home care to take care of himself and his home. He might lose mobility or other functions that require someone to provide 24-hour home care so that he can remain in his home.
If you or an aging loved one are considering 24-Hour Home Care Services in Lititz, PA, please contact the caring staff at Extended Family Care Lancaster today. Call (717) 391-6363
Extended Family Care Lancaster is a Trusted Home Care Agency in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, including Columbia, Elizabethtown, Ephrata, Hershey, Lebanon, Lititz, Manheim, New Holland, and Paradise.
