Psychological stress can negatively impact multiple sclerosis (MS). To further understand how stress is addressed in the MS medical visit, 34 people with MS participated in focus groups. Transcripts were analyzed by inductive thematic analysis. The majority of participants did not discuss stress with their provider, citing barriers to communication such as lack of time, poor coordination between specialties, physician reliance on pharmaceutical prescription, and patient lack of self-advocacy. Participants recommended several ways to better manage psychological wellbeing in the clinical setting. These findings provide a foundation for future studies aimed at minimizing the detrimental effect of stress in MS.
For research to lead to progressive change, scientists and society must embrace what may seem counterintuitive. While there is often resistance to changing views of what we presume to already understand, we must be open to evolving knowledge and evidence. Our research is examining the effect of a novel intervention designed to increase physical activity of premature babies in their first year of life on: (1) body composition, (2) associated biochemical and cellular mechanisms of growth and inflammation, and (3) quality of maternal care. This study is novel because it is counterintuitive to prevailing knowledge of the care and treatment of infants born prematurely. Traditionally, we swaddle infants and restrict their movement in order to minimize energy expenditure. We are proposing the opposite: to increase energy expenditure in a systematic, controlled way in order to increase muscle mass and bone density, with the ultimate goal of preventing diseases associated with lack of muscle mass or bone density. Our research actively engages the mothers in the study by learning about their perceptions and their experiences of doing the exercise with their infants because the mothers, too, are aware of the prevailing views that are counter to what they are being asked to do. The mothers have taught us, however, that they are willing to participate in this exercise study, while paradoxically also viewing their infants as "fragile" and are fearful of hurting their infants. Our thesis in this research-based paper is that science and society must work in tandem to be effective.
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