A supplementary training program integrating cold exposure, breathing exercises and mindfulness as a complementary treatment for neuropsychological aspects of multiple sclerosis - a pilot interventional study.

A 12-week program combining cold exposure, controlled breathing, and mindfulness (the Wim Hof Method) improved cognition, fatigue, anxiety, and depression in people with multiple sclerosis. Compared to a control group receiving no intervention, the 12 participants in the Wim Hof group showed significantly greater gains on tests of processing speed and executive function, as well as reductions in fatigue, anxiety, and depression. The findings suggest the method may serve as a complementary non-pharmacological treatment for neuropsychiatric symptoms of multiple sclerosis.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Most of the patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) suffer from cognitive impairment, fatigue and/or mood disturbances. These symptoms are usually resistant to both disease-modifying and symptomatic treatment. Since there is a trend to a holistic approach to MS patients, we aimed to confirm the effect of combined cold exposure, controlled breathing and mindfulness - Wim Hof Method (WHM) - on neuropsychiatric symptoms of MS. In this randomized interventional study we examined the change in the score of specific neuropsychiatric scales/questionnaires before and after the 12-week WHM-based training program. We compared the change with a control group with no intervention. We obtained complete data from 12 patients in the WHM group and 13 patients in the control group. After 12 weeks, the WHM group had significantly higher improvement in cognition - SDMT (p = 0.045), TMT-A (p = 0.041), TMT-B (p < 0.001); fatigue - FSMCC (p = 0.039); anxiety - GAD (p = 0.015), and depression - PHQ-9 (p = 0.033). Our results indicate that the Wim Hof method appears to be a suitable complementary non-pharmacological treatment for neuropsychiatric symptoms of MS.