A study on the effects of combined treadmill training and pharmacological treatment on management of MS individuals

To compare the effectiveness of two treatment methods of «combination pharmacological treatment and treadmill training» and «pharmacological treatment» on management of MS patients. In this controlled study a sample of 20 MS patients (mean of age of 36. 75 years) with Expanded Disability Status Scale scores (EDSS) 1. 0 to 4. 0, that all of them used from drugs of choice, Rebif and Avonex, were randomly assigned to a pharmacology (Ph) and combination of pharmacology & treadmill training (PhTT) groups. The intervention consisted of 8-weeks (24 sessions) of treadmill training (30 minutes each), at 40 - 75% of age-predicted maximum heart rate for the PhTT group. The Ph group followed their own routine treatment programme. Balance, speed and endurance of walking, quality of life and fatigue were measured by Berg Balance scores, time for 10m walking and distance in 2min walking and Fatigue Severity Scale (FFS) were conducted. Comparison of results indicated that pre- and post intervention led to significant improvements on the balance score (p= 0. 001), 10m walk time (p= 0. 001), walking endurance (p= 0. 007), and FFS (p= 0. 04) in the PhTT group. In contrast, insignificant changes were observed for Ph group in the balance score, 10m timed walk and fatigue, while there was a significant decrease in the 2min distance walk (p=0. 015) in this group. These results suggest that accompanied treadmill training with pharmacological treatment improved balance and walking capacity and level of fatigue in people with mild to moderate MS.